Citadel of Anarchy
by F23
Summary: Lucina was raised as a guard since she was born. It was the safest occupation in the lawless, decaying, overpopulated walled city called the Citadel. She was on her first day as a member of the Royal Battalion when she witnesses a riot organized by an extremist group, the "Family". Through them, Lucina learns of the city's hidden past and her true identity.
1. Scissors

Nobody remembers when the Citadel was created. Nobody remembers it anymore but it used to be constructed with the ideals that everyone was one big family all living under one roof. A walled city consisting of stories stacked on top of each other like a massive maze where humans and non-human species did whatever they pleased. Everyone was united. They all had the same values and beliefs. Some people had to conform to live in the Citadel. But nobody remembers that anymore.

Lucina never liked her long hair. Even if it's tucked up, the hip-length locks will always be there. If the hairpins ever did fall off, some stranger grabbing her and cutting it off for quick money was the lucky outcome. But she didn't blame anyone to do so; it depends on the buyer and the species the hair is from, but it could sell up to a week of supplies.

She had, luckily, good-working scissors at home. Every once in a while, she would grab them into one bundle and press them to the open blades, and she imagined the hair crying and begging her to not cut them off. But her hair must have grown used to the abuse since it grows so much each year. So after just imagining her hair weeping and shuddering in fear at the sight of the two blades, she places the scissors in the drawer again.

In the other room, Lucina hears her father call for her. His voice is hoarse but not as faint as yesterday. It only takes four steps from her room to his but sometimes it feels much farther away.

"Lucina," He calls again. His eyes are closed and he's curled up in his bed as if the mattress is made of spikes.

"I'm right here, father." Lucina replies. She rubs his back and tries to straighten his legs so he's more comfortable, but his body is stiff yet fragile as dry bread.

"Were you playing with the scissors again?"

Lucina sees her father is smiling and didn't respond. Despite being bedridden, he smiles often, sometimes too much that Lucina feels like she doesn't even need to smile herself. But then he would pinch her cheeks and tell her to 'be herself when she's at home'.

"Robin should be coming soon." She says instead.

Her father nods and opens his eyes. They seem pink at first glance and Lucina immediately reaches for the eye-drops on the night stand. Her father shakes his head slowly.

"These aren't from me scratching my eyes, Lucina. I'm just so proud that today is your first day as a Royal Battalion. You've trained so hard."

Lucina looks down into the eye-drops. "Thank you, father."

She felt her father stare at her. Somehow, she felt her sword, the Falchion, stare at her from her room too. The sword was too big for her frame but there was no way she could afford a rapier or a cutlass. And anyway, it was previously her father's sword so Lucina had to master it.

There was a knock on the door. Lucina recognized the rhythm, so she stood and approached the door soundlessly to peek through the spyhole. It was Robin, a guest she was expecting. She knocked back in a rhythm of ten notes, where Robin responded in another series of knocks. Finally, drawing a breath of relief, Lucina opened the three locks to let Robin in.

"Thanks for coming at this time." Lucina said.

"No problem." Robin grinned. "You were right, there aren't as many people around this time. I'm not that observant when it comes to time so you should teach me your ways."

Robin knew Lucina since they were young. He was the only person Lucina would not hesitate to call a friend as he cared for her father as well. Ever since her father got sick he started to work in a potion shop. Robin would say a medical profession was for the greater good but Lucina wanted to believe it was for her father, as he also taught Robin the ways of the sword also and treated him like Lucina's brother. His weekly visit to their apartment room was essentially the only guest they'd receive. So Lucina would schedule the drop-off time according to when she was home and when there were less people in the streets.

Because, occasionally, people would knock on their door trying to pose as Robin. It wasn't until Lucina heard what had happened to her neighbors a few years ago when they let a stranger in, thinking they were a family member, that Robin and her devised a series of codes in their knocks to tell each other their identities.

That was before her father became sick from his immune system failing him. Lucina remembered burying her face into her father's lap and squeezing her ears shut to cut herself away from the screams and blunt noises next door. Nobody, at least in this floor, was willing to risk their lives to stop the commotion, and the Royal Battalion only protects the Royals, hence their name. The room has been vacant since.

"Hello Chrom, I brought your dailies and eye-drops." Robin greeted as he placed the medicine box on the night stand. "Did you need towels again?"

"Please." Lucina nodded.

As Robin placed three clean white towels on a chair, Lucina brought her payment to him. Robin's face lit up at the cut pink flowers. He graciously took them and wrapped them around in a brown paper to place them in his bag.

"Thanks. I don't know how you grow these Echinacea so well, Lucina. I try from the shop and it just never blooms this pink. You must have a good window."

"No, Lucina's just better at growing flowers than you." Chrom chuckled softly.

Robin laughed heartily at Chrom's comment. Lucina found herself smiling seeing her best friend and father share a joke. Chrom's legs were more relaxed now, stretching to the end of the bed.

The three pills Lucina gives her father everyday helped him relax and breathe well, and the eye-drops helped the pink in his eyes recede. If she asked, Robin would explain what kind of medicine it was and how it helped him specifically, but Lucina didn't want to hear it, and Robin respected her feelings. For better or for worse, this was the best medical attention available to him, and Lucina understood that.

After zipping up his bag, Robin turned to Lucina again. "You're going to your station today right? I'll drop you off on my way back to the shop."

"Yes. Thank you again." Lucina replied, trying to keep her voice more animated than she felt.

* * *

In the drawer with the scissors, were the five hairpins that Lucina used to tuck her hair up. A few years ago, around the same time Chrom fell ill, Lucina went to cut her hair off to sell it for medicine, and Chrom stopped her. He said, having her hair long was her mother's wish that Lucina would keep at least one thing in her possession. The mother died before Lucina could remember her face so it felt like a stranger weighing their ideals down on her, much like the people in this walled city.

But, she did find her talent in growing plants from the limited sunlight the one small, caged window provided. She sold them to Robin and sometimes through his potion shop as well. As Chrom became bedridden, it was the only source of income. They needed more stable money.

Lucina wrapped her locks in twists, tucked them beneath her shorter layers of hair and pinned them up. She was already dressed in her clothes provided from her commander, and strapped the outsized Falchion to her hip. It felt more like a crutch than a one-handed sword, but nevertheless, after years of training in the station, the blade was part of her now. The cloak that covered her frame was more bland than the sword and uniform to be more fitting in the streets. It's been a couple weeks since her commander gave her the fancy blue clothes and she'd grown used to training in them, but today was her first day as a member of the Royal Battalion.

She checked on Chrom again, making sure the blanket was placed over him and crossed off on the calendar that he took his dailies. Lucina eyed the clock. One in the afternoon. Her shift was over at ten. In the years to come, Lucina hoped her shifts wouldn't be at night. Chrom nodded to her daughter with a grin on his lips as she left the room with Robin.

Closing the door quickly behind her, Lucina sealed the corroded metal door with the three locks in order. She grabbed the handle and turned on it lightly. It locked in place.

"Good, Lucius?" Robin asked.

"Good." She replied.

When the three locks were set, Lucina changed her name and gender. It was the only way she could join the Royal Battalion and to protect herself outside the apartment room. She had a low voice and the cloak will always be around her, so posing as a man wasn't difficult.

Lucina and Robin paced the narrow street. The sticky air clung onto Lucina's face. With each step the cloak was getting muggier but she held onto it tightly. Cables, used and abandoned, hung from the ceiling. Occasionally one of them would snap, sending sparks of electricity, so people would make an unconscious duck through each one. Light was seldom because of the humidity from the frequent rainfall, which seeped through and down the black walls, wetting the floor until it soaked through that to the floor below. Lucina learned from Chrom that rain fell from the outside, so when she was young, she spent her days watching the water drip from the cracks in the ceilings.

The Outer Rim, where Lucina's apartment room is located, had the occasional ray of sunlight peering through the ceiling. These openings, if it was during the day, were always a shade of blue. They were stunning to stare at sometimes. Some people even spend hours looking up into those openings and windows, and get yelled at by passersby to get a job.

It had rained yesterday so the floor was especially wet and humid. A couple of whirring fans adorned the cafeteria so Robin made the choice of walking through there. Lucina didn't say, but she silently thanked him when he veered right into the street. With the fans and the cafeteria being at the Outer Rim, it was arguably one of the cooler and brighter places to walk through. But it wasn't necessarily safer. A lot of people still avoided passing through here because of the infestation of bugs and vermin, and other reasons.

"Did you need to get anything?" Robin asked.

Lucina heard the mock in his tone.

Most of the food in the cafeteria was largely unappealing to say the least. It was inexpensive but it usually wasn't worth the stomach problems that followed shortly after. Still, it was in operation, so people would buy it to fill their stomachs somehow. Robin buys chicken broth at times but Lucina would always buy supplies and cook for herself and Chrom.

There was one place that always bothered Lucina, to the point of smelling any kind of bread made her cringe. The bakery wasn't popular but it faced the street compared to the other food shops, and a lot of people did pass by it. So there was a reoccurring problem.

A boy wearing one shoe zipped by, grabbed the roll sitting in front, and took off into the darkness. The overweight, oily baker eyed the boy, muttered something with a smirk on his heavy cheeks and went back to kneading dough. Robin watched the quick exchange with pursed lips.

"I guess that happens often…" Robin said warily.

Lucina leaned in and whispered, "That baker, he mixes the bread with rat poison and places them in the front. To prevent people stealing them twice."

"Are you serious?"

Lucina nodded, but Robin was already going after the boy before looking back at her. As she followed him, she felt the baker's piercing stare stabbing her in the back.

The boy didn't run far. Lucina heard Robin's voice at the end of the hall. A giant metal fan dangling from the ceiling was wafting the boy's hair as he curled up against the wall and clutched the roll as if it was his soul. Robin was kneeling down to him, but wasn't trying to pry the roll away from the boy.

He appeared about six to eight years old. A bit too old to not tell the difference between a product and something at home. Besides the fact that he only had one shoe, the ill-fitting shirt and the piece of plastic around his waist as a substitute for pants made Lucina assume that he might not have a room to go back to.

"Why don't we go to the watering station to wash your dirt off? It won't be safe to eat if your hands are covered in dirt." Robin suggested.

"Robin," Lucina started.

A shiver went down her spine. When she took a look behind her, the baker had stepped out of the shop and was staring back at them, floured arms crossed over his greasy apron. His stubby legs wouldn't make it two steps before they could run away, but Lucina made her way around the corner so he wouldn't see her.

Once out of the baker's sight, she noticed the boy was muttering something over and over again. He had his neck sloping over his body so a strand of saliva was dribbling from his mouth. Up close now, she could see that the pigment in the boy's skin was spotty and an unusual shade of yellow. He was shuddering and jerking as if he couldn't sit still.

"Go away, go away, go away, go away…" He kept saying.

"Let's get you cleaned up, okay?" Robin said again. "I'll take you to the watering station."

"This isn't his first time."

As Lucina said that, Robin's reassuring smile disappeared, but he didn't seem alarmed. The loud whir of the metal fan and the general discussion going on in the afternoon of the Outer Rim didn't fade out the young boy repeatedly muttering the same phrase over and over.

Lucina took a look into the street again. The baker had stepped back into his shop.

"Yellow phosphorus poisoning." Robin mumbled. "If it's past day two, then I don't have a strong enough antidote at the shop. We'd have to go to a bigger apothecary or clinic. He might even need a liver transplant and who knows how much that'll cost…"

"Don't risk yourself."

Robin shook his head, still unable to take his eyes off of the boy. Now he dropped the poisoned dinner roll, cupped his face and started a retching sob. The shaking in his legs worsened and it looked like he was stomping the ground. As Robin went to pat the boy's back, Lucina had to pull him to stand up as the boy started to vomit on the floor.

"Don't say it like that. Don't say it like that…" Robin chided, his voice cracking.

Lucina kept her hands firm on her friend's shoulders.

* * *

The entrance to Lucina's station for the Royal Battalion was still in the Outer Rim. Most stations were placed there since the Royals they protected sat in the very top of the infrastructure. Steel gates sat as an entrance, as if the massive gates themselves protected the Royal Battalion from the other lowly residents.

Getting to the hallway before the gates was closed off to residents as well, with a door that automatically locks back as the person enters and closes behind them. Some residents do slip in at times but for some reason, none have made it up to the gates. For Lucina, she had to wait for her commander to unlock the door to let her in.

"I'll come pick you up after your shift." Robin smiled.

Lucina shook her head. "You don't have to."

Her best friend shifted uncomfortably, looking down and away from her eyes. His eyes were still red from leaving the boy earlier. It wasn't the first time they'd seen a person, sometimes a child, left alone to perish on the street. They are people who are hired to pick up and dispose of them so the smell doesn't build up. They both understood nobody is willing to help because they lack the resources, power, time, the knowledge and on and on. And they both understood there are people who don't care about hurting others.

"I'll never get used to this place." Robin finally said.

"You don't have to."

"I know."

Lucina shrugged, then nervously eyed the steel door. A cool draft of air crept from underneath, and Lucina couldn't help but remember the shiver that went down her spine when she saw the baker crossing his arms as he glared at them.

Seeing her best friend cry trying to weigh his impossible options, and the boy poisoning himself to death out of hunger, Lucina imagined herself unsheathing her sword and slicing the arms off of the overweight baker. As she did with her long hair and scissors, grazing the blade across the man's flour-covered shoulders, hearing him sob and beg for mercy. But in the end she could also see herself sheathing the sword, sparing him.

Many times she had seen the baker crush the pellets and sprinkle them onto the dough as she passed through the street. People will swipe the poisoned rolls, and as much as she wanted to warn them, she was afraid of the backlash of the thieves and the baker. The thief might assault her because she witnessed their act, the baker, who knows what he'll do if she told the thief about the poisoned rolls. To speak up and fight back can easily lead to an early death.

But her best friend wasn't afraid to talk to the child, even when he knew it was too late.

Robin started to talk again, tearing her away from her thoughts. "I never really wanted you to be a guard, working for those Royals. But, you suit having a sword by your side."

"It's for my father." Lucina responded.

"Of course."

The steel door rattled lightly, and Robin took this cue to leave. He still promised to pick her up after her shift so she nodded; no use in arguing him if he insists. Lucina stared at his back as he headed back down the stairs when her commander unlocked the door.

"Lucius." He called.

"Commander Ganondorf." Lucina greeted.

"Come on in."

Lucina's commander is a large, dark-skinned man, and well-dressed like the rest of the Royal Battalion. His cloak billowed behind him proudly, but the wearer had to duck through several times walking through the narrow hallway.

Some parts of Ganondorf reminded Lucina of her father. During her trainee days, she would do one-on-one training sessions with him. What she lacked after Chrom fell ill and couldn't train her anymore, she raised her sword skills at the station. Also Ganondorf said he didn't have a family of his own, so he treated excelling trainees like Lucina as a son.

"How many years has it been since you've been initiated as a trainee?" Ganondorf asked.

"Almost three, sir."

"That long already?" He chuckled. "You've grown much since then, Lucius, and your sword skills as well."

"Thank you, sir." Lucina's voice came out lower than she wanted it to be.

Hearing her unappreciative tone, Ganondorf turned around, concern furrowing his red eyebrows. Lucina stopped in her tracks and gulped.

"Is something the matter?" He questioned.

Lucina tried to find her words, whether to speak the truth or say never mind. About what happened at the bakery. She nervously thumbed the hilt of the Falchion underneath her cloak but her mouth kept shut. The commander sighed after a solid minute of silence and kept walking.

"If you're nervous of your first day, don't be. It's mostly the same as your trainee days for now. You'll meet the other commanders of the Royal Battalion, your companions, and then some combat training, and you're dismissed at ten sharp, as we discussed last week…"

There was one question she was dying to know the answer to but hesitant to ask. Always hesitant, Lucina thought. She gripped the hilt, thinking how her father was the one who insisted on her joining the Royal Battalion. And while it was for their own good, she thought of how she held Robin back as the boy broke down and vomited on the floor. Always thinking of scenarios of how it could have been better.

Lucina stepped outside the hallway. The steel gates to the station remained shut but her commander was only a couple steps away from knocking on them to let them inside.

"Commander Ganondorf," Lucina called. "What happens if I use my sword outside the station?"

The commander stopped. Lucina couldn't find the courage to take another step forward, but as he turned around , she saw he had his hands behind his back and was looking down, like how Robin did before the two separated. Her nervous grip on the hilt tightened. The commander would always look at her straight in the eyes so it was odd seeing him so forlorn.

Ganondorf still didn't meet Lucina's gaze. "I can't stop you for using your sword. I may be your commander but the sword and your skills are yours to use."

Lucina found that reiterating her words was more draining than she thought. But her commander waited patiently this time. She noticed she was fumbling with her cloak so she let go and rubbed her sweaty hands on her uniform.

"Are there any penalties regarding my position, if I were to use my sword freely outside of my shift?" She restated.

Another beat of silence went through the room. Ganondorf now moved away from the gates and back to Lucina. It took all of her willpower to not step back as her commander approached her slowly. He lowered his voice.

"Lucius, you are one of my best trainees. It's my responsibility to train you here, and you've done well. Once outside these doors, your life and your choices are your responsibility. But I don't recommend you prying into others' affairs."

"I understand."

"…Did you encounter someone you'd like to use your sword on?"

With Ganondorf in front of her, asking her this question, Lucina imagined herself cutting off the baker's arms even more clear now. She could almost feel how satisfying and terrifying it would be to end someone's life. But how would Robin and her father feel about that? How would her commander think about that, despite saying that it's her responsibility? Not that she'll actually go on a vengeful fit against that baker. But if there was an opportunity…

Lucina explained. "A baker in the Outer Rim mixes his rolls with rat poison and places them in the front to prevent thieves. My friend and I witnessed a boy essentially killing himself by eating the rolls because he didn't know any better."

"Did you see him mix the poison?"

"I-I do when I pass by it sometimes." Lucina faltered, not expecting him to inquire more about her concerns. "He would crush these yellowish pellets and mix them in his dough. And the boy showed signs of yellow phosphorus poisoning…"

Ganondorf smiled in surprise. "Ah, you have knowledge in the medical field as well."

With that, he turned to the gates again. Lucina felt her shoulders drop in relief and a fraction of something like disappointment. A part of her didn't want to talk more of the incident and her thoughts of killing the baker, but another part of her anticipated her commander to help her, somehow. But he is, and she is now, a member of the Royal Battalion, whom only guards the Royals.

* * *

During her three years of being a trainee, Lucina hasn't seen or even knew the names of who she was guarding. All she knew about them was that they were called the Royals and they sit on top of this walled city. They built the foundation of the Citadel.

Many that initially sign up to the Royal Battalion don't make it past the first year of rigorous training and strict curriculum. The ones that make it as a guard were generally well fit, eager to obey, and had a false sense of power. Meaning they think they are "better" than the residents. However a guard did have benefits no other occupation had. A significant salary was the most attractive, and essentially you guard something that is already behind steel doors.

Ganondorf promised Lucina that he'll introduce her to the other commanders in the Royal Battalion, but they were absent as always. She did meet some of her companions, who were no more interesting than the absent commanders.

There was no initiation ceremony or any pomp and circumstance, so Lucina spent her day alone in the practice arena fighting the infinite dummies with her Falchion. A few of her seniors picked on her for her small frame, but she ignored their taunts. Several of them mentioned that she was "Ganondorf's favorite pet", and by then, she made the pact to not be friends with any of her seniors.

As night fell, Lucina thought of her day. She hoped her father was sleeping and not trying to help with the housework, as he tends to do when the medication is working well. She thought of Robin and how rounded his back was when he walked down the stairs as they separated. She tried not to think of the boy and the baker, but their images burned in the back of her mind.

One dummy on the floor had its arms curled up like it was afraid. Sweat dripped down her cheeks. Lucina stepped on its stomach with force and brought the blade of the Falchion above the dummy's shoulders. As the blade dug into the fabric, her sweat dripped off her chin and landed on the dummy's face, approximately where its eyes would be if it were a person.

Lucina stepped off of the dummy, sheathed her sword and kicked it aside.

* * *

"Tomorrow, I'll have you visit another Royal Battalion station. I got in contact with the commander there so he would be in charge of you tomorrow." Ganondorf announced as Lucina's shift ended.

"Thank you, sir." She bowed.

As Ganondorf went to dismiss her, a small black box around his waist rang. Lucina stared at the ringing box, trying to remember its name. Her commander seemed surprised that it rang and walked off without another word.

A transceiver, she remembered. Lucina only knew the box can help exchange dialogue with someone with another transceiver, so she was curious as to who needed to talk to her commander at this time of night.

She didn't mean to snoop or eavesdrop, but as Ganondorf walked away, she heard one name: "Marth". It sounded somewhat familiar.

Ganondorf didn't return after fifteen minutes, so Lucina packed her things and left the station. Once outside the steel door and back to the streets, Robin was there with a flustered look on his face. His hair was messed up as if a rat was nesting in it. Lucina patted it down but froze as Robin asked something far-fetched.

"Were you okay?"

Lucina blinked. Robin looked genuinely worried, but took a deep breath seeing she was fine. He tried to collect his words so Lucina waited patiently, sometimes yawning in the middle of it.

"The, um, the bakery! It's a mess. Somebody tipped off about the poisoned rolls and a lot of people came up claiming they got poisoned eating them, and it's a riot down there. The best part is, you won't believe who did it, it's—" He shook Lucina's shoulders in excitement.

"What? Slow down!" Lucina raised her voice. "What happened—"

"The prince! The _missing prince_! People said he tipped them off!"

When Robin saw Lucina was still confused, he took her hand and the two of them ran down the stairs.

The commotion started well before they could see the cafeteria. Robin whispered into Lucina's ear that it actually started to settle down. The shattered glass and blood residue in the streets indicated a riot did actually happen. Lucina didn't examine it thoroughly, but she assumed from the color that the blood was starting to clot and dry up.

As they reached the corner to the bakery, Lucina flinched from the amount of blood on the broken window panes. The lights flickered, revealing the wreckage that used to be the bakery. Many of the rolls and other pastries scattered the floor along with the glass and blood. Most of them, especially the rolls, were crushed and melded into the ground as they were deliberately stomped on.

Blunt noises and angry screams made Lucina step back, away from the corner. She gripped her sword's hilt tightly underneath the cloak. Robin looked back, finally realizing his best friend's distress.

"Oh, god. What was I thinking… I'm sorry. I'll take you home." He suggested.

Lucina shook her head. There was a choking noise, then a muffled wail. It sounded like how Lucina imagined when the baker was pleading her to not cut his arms off. The baker has been making these poisoned rolls for years. Not only the poor boy, but presumably many people have died because of him. And today, somehow, he got his punishment. Was this really happening right now?

She gulped, grasped the wall with her other hand and took a look around the corner.

First, she saw the single sign on the floor that triggered the riot. In beautiful print, the blue paper read: " _Rat Poison Filled Dinner Rolls, For Free_ "

Then, she saw the mess that was the baker. Pieces of glass protruded from his gut and neck from being smashed into his window panes, and his mouth was stuffed with the yellow pellets. His limbs were splayed across the glass covered street like a big pin cushion. About twenty people were in the street, most of them just standing around and shouting into the center of the circle. They shifted constantly, but Lucina could see the body writhing around.

Lucina wanted nothing more than to look away. Robin was even tugging on her sleeve but she was stuck as if her entire body was frozen over. As if, if she moved a step, the mass of people crowding over the body would turn to her.

The baker's dazed pink eyes struck open upon finding Lucina; then, quivering, spitted some of the pellets out of his mouth and screamed. He didn't even form words, an elongated, rasping shriek that he identified Lucina peering from the corner. Lucina shuddered and tasted something bitter building up in her throat from the inhumane sight.

Five or six adults kicked him around, shoving more of the pellets in his mouth, but Lucina watched in horror as the baker clawed the ground to move toward her. She could almost hear the glass puncturing and biting into his arms and hands over the commotion as he peeled his pink eyes back and wriggled forward. The circle of people moved back, some still stomping and kicking at the baker, but it didn't stop him.

The baker recognized Lucina. He saw her and Robin talking to his little thief. He has probably seen her pass by the bakery several times as she went to her station. Why was he crawling toward her? Did he think she was the one who started all this?

A man in dirtied overalls carried over a bucket with a grin on his coal-covered face. Without any delay and warning, blackened water rained down onto the baker, drowning out and covering his panicked, flailing body. The circle of people stomped their feet in either joy or in surprise from the sudden shower of black water, crunching the glass and pastries beneath their feet.

A man grabbed the baker's legs, pulling him away from the corner.

He laughed, "Where are you going, piggy?"

"Just cut his god-damned arms off!"

"Yeah, why not make it easier for the cleaners later. Those things can't lift that fat ass by themselves."

"Eat your own poison, you fat rat!"

Another man cut through the crowd with a butcher knife in hand. The dull, tarnished blade reflected against the flickering lights. A cheer broke out as he stepped up to the gray, wet pin cushion that was once the baker.

Robin pulled Lucina away from the corner. He appeared like a blur of white hair until Lucina noticed she wasn't breathing. She gripped his coat and tried gasping, but as if a cork was stuck in her throat, no air passed in or out. Her head slumped onto his shoulder.

But Robin was persistent. He lifted Lucina's head and did a couple of deep breaths for her to imitate him. Tears streamed down her cheeks as her neck was pulled up, making an easy path for air to pass through her lungs. Robin smiled briefly, and took Lucina's arm around his shoulder for them to leave the street.

There were more shouts and noises than the baker, but all Lucina heard was the muffled screams. After all of that trauma, he wasn't dead yet. She pulled the cloak over her head.

* * *

As they neared Lucina's apartment room, many of the residents were whispering amongst each other of the riot. Luckily, none of them took particular notice to Lucina and Robin as they pushed by them. Lucina's hair pins were starting to fall off, so Robin offered his coat so she could wear the hood to hide her hair.

Unlocking the three locks, opening the door, and locking the three locks again came as an automated process, but once Lucina was in the apartment room, her legs crumpled to the ground. The Falchion clattered against the tile.

Chrom, who was sitting up in his bed, flinched from the sword hitting the floor. Robin scurried into his room and roughly explained of the riot.

The apartment room smelled like broth. Chrom made dinner after Lucina left for her shift. On a normal day Lucina would be upset, tell him to stay in bed and make another dish for the two to eat in Chrom's bedroom. But the soft, comforting smell of the simple broth made Lucina cup her face and curl up.

"Come here, Lucina." Chrom called.

"I'm fine, father."

"Come and give me a hug."

Lucina looked up to see her father stretching out his arms, smiling as usual. She stood up, leaning the Falchion on a wall, and carefully sat on the bed to place her head on her father's shoulder. Chrom took the pins out of Lucina's hair and placed it on the night stand before he wrapped his arms around her. Smelling the cotton in his nightwear, Lucina felt like sobbing, but instead let out a long sigh.

Lingering silence filled the room. General commotion still populated beyond the metal door. The Royal Battalion station and the riot were all in the same floor, yet to Lucina, it felt like worlds apart from her father's room now.

Nobody spoke a word until Chrom laughed, "Don't fall asleep here."

"I'm awake." Lucina responded. Although sleep sounded like a great idea.

"I'm so sorry." Robin cried out. "That was so stupid and insensitive of me to bring you there. You could've been hurt, and I didn't stop you when you turned the corner and…"

His hands were raw pink from gripping them so hard. Lucina felt a sting in her heart, from seeing Robin make such a miserable face twice today. She patted the chair next to the night stand and he warily sat down. She gave the coat back to him but Robin just held it in his lap.

Lucina spoke softly, "I needed to see what happened."

"You didn't have to. I shouldn't have let you…" He said.

"Alright alright, you stay in our room tonight, I don't think it's safe for you to go home." Chrom offered.

Robin just nodded solemnly.

* * *

After they had a sip of Chrom's broth, Lucina and Robin sat across each other in the small table in the kitchen. Chrom slept soundly, making small snores from his room. The kitchen was dark save the small lamp on the table that only shown their hands in a warm orange glow. The commotion still continued, but most of it died down after a couple of hours.

"Who is the missing prince?" Lucina asked.

A shadow obscured Robin's expressions. There was a long silence after Chrom fell asleep but neither of them felt the need to sleep yet. Lucina could still hear and see the haunting image of the tortured baker and the crowd of people shouting and taking turns slowly killing him. She could still imagine him screaming and crawling toward her, pieces of glass stabbing his arms. All from one piece of blue paper.

"I don't really know who he is. Just stories." Robin shook his head. "He was said to be a part of the Royals but then became rogue and turned on them. …Do you know of the "Family'?"

Lucina felt her eyes twitch hearing that term. She did recognize it, even more than the Royals she protects as a job now. The Family was an extremist group that sought the destruction of the Royal Battalion and the Royals themselves and wanted to achieve a "new world order". Lucina was too young to remember when the last riot happened but after their leader was mortally wounded, the group supposedly disappeared into the streets, and since then they haven't been heard of.

People talked about a lot of different theories like how the leader wasn't actually dead, or he actually succeeded in killing the Royals, or the Family was a branch of the Royals and they were just having a civil war all along. Lucina didn't listen to any of it. But the last riot did change the Royal Battalion in a permanent way: they started recruiting residents off the streets, and if they could survive the curriculum, they could be a member of the Royal Battalion, as how Lucina did.

Many brutes and delinquents pose as a member of the Family and rob stores but from Lucina's knowledge, the Family would only attack the Royal Battalion and were extremely secretive and professional. Of all the whispers of legends she hears about the Family, none of them remember specific names or faces of the members. After all, they could just be another cautionary tale.

"What about them?" She asked.

Robin leaned in. "They say the prince was the one who made the Family, because the Royals abandoned him into the streets."

"He must have good leadership skills." Lucina muttered.

"Yeah, to be a Royal but round up some rogues off the street? I bet." A brief smile returned to his lips.

"So you think he's the one who placed that sign in front of the bakery?"

"I'm absolutely sure he's the one." Robin cupped his mouth to whisper. "A witness said she saw a man with a blue cloak wrapped all around him walk up to the bakery, and place the sign in front of the poisoned rolls with a _bone-like prosthetic hand_."

Lucina blinked. "A… bone hand?"

"The prince lost his arm in the last riot against the Royals, and people say he wears a prosthetic hand that looks like it's made of bones." Robin explained. He seemed very excited talking about the dead extremist group, which Lucina felt it was out of character for him since he's such a pacifist.

"Why did he use that hand if that can easily identify him?"

"He wanted people to witness his act! That he's still alive and watching over us and—"

Lucina clasped a hand over Robin's mouth. He lowered his shoulders embarrassingly. They froze, listening in on the bedroom, where Chrom still snored lightly.

"Sorry." He whispered underneath Lucina's hand.

She removed her hand and leaned back in her chair. "I'm sorry too. I'm glad to see you smile again."

"I just… After I saw that boy today and then I heard about the prince placing that sign to start the riot, I feel like he's still trying to save all of us. He's addressing injustice by starting small." Robin mumbled. It almost appeared as if he was reassuring himself than talking to Lucina.

Lucina felt a sore spot in her chest. Sure, the baker was cruel in the way he handled thieves. But he can't use a sword to save his round figure, so that was _his_ way of handling injustice to theft. And what kind of extremist group leader who only went against the Royals, the founders of the Citadel, go after some no-name bakery?

"Oh, I don't mean that the Family should attack your station." Robin stated. Frankly, Lucina forgot she was a member of the Royal Battalion for a second. "If they attack, I think you should run. Or even join them. The prince has the same ideals as us anyway."

"Okay." Lucina stopped him. "I think we're tired and it's time to sleep."

Robin fiddled with his fingers like he wanted to say more, but his heavy eyelids protested.

"You're right. God, what am I thinking… Such a crazy day it turned out to be. I didn't mean to disprove your job. You've trained hard to join the battalion. And the Family, there are like no credible eyewitness accounts, and as far as I know, they've been gone for a good fifteen years."

Lucina knew this question was a bit mean, but it was to usher Robin to sleep. "Do you even know the name of that prince, if you're such a big fan?"

"Yeah, of course. He's named after an ancient god of war, which makes it even better." Robin muttered as he dragged his feet to the sofa. "Prince Marth."

As soon as he placed his head on the arm rest, Robin was asleep. Lucina stood there, with the small lamp still illuminating the one corner in the kitchen, thinking about the name Robin just said. The same name she overheard from her commander's transceiver as she left her shift.

Marth.

Why did that sound familiar?


	2. The Blue Note

Hands, smothered in blood and glass snatched Lucina's foot. She felt her center of balance slip forward, but her head backwards, as her body smashed against the asphalt backbone first. A strained gasp escaped her mouth. Black dots scattered in her tossed vision. She tried to ignore the stinging pain and shook her leg vigorously to make the hands let go.

Lights flickered in the narrow street, revealing the perpetrator in flashing recesses. Strangely, there was no sound until Lucina saw who was trying to pull on her. Upon seeing those familiar heavy cheeks drawn up into a forced smirk, Lucina felt needles gently caressing her body. Threatening to press into her, moving up to her lungs and puncturing the air out.

The bloodied baker exposed his teeth. He grabbed her body with one hand after another to pull in Lucina like a bulk of rope, closer and closer to him. Glass crunched and scraped against each other. Lucina felt the glass pierce and enter her forearms but she remained motionless. A shudder went down her back but was still unable to grip onto something to stop him.

Hot, meaty fingers made a tight grip around her neck and the baker smirked, yellow poison pellets and saliva dribbling off his miserable face, landing onto her forehead, cheeks, eyelids, hair. She clamped her mouth shut to prevent that.

"You filthy rat," He spat in her face.

Lucina shot up.

The clock ticked in her father's room. Black spots still danced in her eyes so Lucina concentrated on the snores in the apartment room. She cupped her face and timed her breathing with them. A cold sweat dripped from the back of her neck, to the bottom of her curled up back. Annoyed, she scratched her back briskly to get the feeling off.

Once she was able to see the outlines of her fingers, she stepped out of bed and stood in her father's doorway. He had his back turned to her, snoring steadily with relaxed, long legs reaching to the end of the bed. Lucina pulled the blanket over his shoulders. The clock read 4 a.m. so she left the room.

Likewise, Robin was sleeping in the kitchen, not snoring as loudly as her father but more relaxed, with his arms and legs hanging off of the small, poor excuse of a sofa. Most of the seams were frayed and bits of cotton was covering her best friend as he slept soundly. He used his coat as a blanket so Lucina helped straighten that out and watched him sleep.

"Thank you Chrom, I love your humble broth… So simple and ordinary…" Robin mumbled and smacked his lips.

Lucina smiled. After Robin left for work, she thought of telling her father about his opinions about the broth.

There was a knock on the front door, and then immediately the handle rattled, struggling to open. Unexpected knocks happen occasionally, even at this time, but this person was more persistent than the others. After the fifth attempt at knocking on the door, Lucina decided to move.

She stood noiselessly and approached her Falchion leaning against the wall in her room. She timed the rattles and grabbed the hilt, sliding the blade out in careful intervals so the visitor didn't hear it unsheathe. As she came up to the door, she noticed the knocks were coming from below her waist. Holding the Falchion in a backhanded grip, she stood in front of the door and peered through the spyhole.

As expected, she couldn't see the sudden visitor. One part of her wanted to open the door and cut him down. But the other part of her stopped to think he could have other allies behind him. Judging the height the visitor is knocking at, Lucina thought it could be the poisoned boy she and Robin saw yesterday, but she ruled that out.

 _The boy should be dead_ , she thought.

After what seemed like forever, the visitor finally faded away. The stubborn rattles and knocks left Lucina's ears ringing and her fingertips cold. She checked the three locks were in place, leaned the Falchion on the wall next to the sheath and laid down in her bed again. She lied on her side so she could see her father's back and a bit of Robin's head from the two rooms. Watching them sleep, their bodies rising up and down gently with their breathing, lulled Lucina back into brief sleep again.

Lucina dreamed of the whirring fan in the corner of the cafeteria. She stared at its dirty blades as she could hear Robin convincing the boy to let go of the poisoned dinner roll. When she turned back, they were gone. In her hands was a piece of blue paper.

A man, wrapped in a cloak that reached his feet was standing at the bakery, gesturing Lucina to come closer. A heavy hood obscured his facial features. The one identifiable detail was the prosthetic hand in his right. Lucina could tell that from down the street, since his right hand was an unhealthy shade of white, and strangely thin. His demeanor was sinister but welcoming to some degree. As if death was inviting Lucina into a sweet, painless end. She felt compelled to walk toward him.

"We are alike, Lucina. As two sides of the same coin." The man said, his voice soft and collected. Somehow it was clear and eloquent from this distance.

One fan in the street came to life, blasting a disrupting gust of wind into Lucina, making the piece of paper she held crinkle. The man kept waving his prosthetic hand invitingly, like he was amused by Lucina's struggle. She staggered back, shielding her face, and noticed the paper had writing on it.

" _Rat Poison Filled Dinner Rolls, For Free_ "

The paper flew off of her hand, and into the darkness behind her. Only her short breath filled the hallway as the fan died down, and the cloaked man was gone.

* * *

Morning followed in a blur. So when Lucina was walking down the streets with Robin again, she stopped to think if she did her duties. First, her hair was tucked up, she had the Falchion on her hip, she had her uniform and cloak on. At least she was presentable in the streets.

"Did I give my father his medication…?" She whispered.

Robin stopped walking. They were at the bridge that overlooked the levels of the Citadel. It was one of the few places that can showcase the massive structure of the walled city, like a storm drain that is populated with steam, cables, and flickering yellow lights to the very edge. Some houses were even built on the edge like it's essentially hanging off of the walls. The very bottom has a water plant that supposedly cleans and distributes the domestic water. Muddy steam always builds up from the plant so the levels here were built around it to avoid the humidity, hence the cylinder-like shape.

The damp odor left Lucina numb for a second. She managed to block off the smell unconsciously, so when she noticed she was at the bridge and squeezed her nose, Robin smiled.

"You did. You also watered your plants and had some broth. You said goodbye to Chrom and locked the door too. …Are _you_ feeling okay?"

Lucina blinked. She couldn't remember, but she didn't doubt Robin's words. "I had a weird dream, well, two weird dreams."

"About what happened yesterday?" He guessed.

"Yes…" She said softly, "And your prince too, I think."

Her friend made a stifling cough. "Stop making it sound like he's my crush."

Lucina smiled for a brief moment, then suggested something that wiped off the blush in Robin's cheeks.

"Can we go to the bakery again?"

When they arrived to the corner, the street was almost silent save the whirring fans. A good portion of the glass and pastries still filled the street but the blood was mostly cleaned off. Many of the food shops in the cafeteria were closed, their metal shutters indicating there won't be any business today. Still, there were some people at the tables but most of them kept a distance from the bakery.

No one was walking down the street. Some people would turn into it, see the wreckage, and turn back to take a different path. It just wasn't worth the hassle of walking through glass. Some people must have seen what happened last night and just avoided the street entirely. At the very end, Lucina could see something different about the bakery, aside from the broken window panes and scattered pastries. Something black was overflowing from the shop.

"Come on. Let's take a different route." Robin pleaded. About halfway to the bakery, his footing slowed down and essentially Lucina lead the way, so he was quiet until now.

"I need to check something. You can stay here, if you'd like." Lucina patted his shoulder. He shrugged it off.

"I'm not going to—there's nothing here for us anymore. If anything, it's dangerous. Who knows if someone saw us from last night and wanted to ask some 'questions' when they see us snooping around here again."

Lucina bit her lips. The truth was, she was thumbing the Falchion's hilt again. It still felt like the baker was going to be there, covering his arms in a white floury mess and smirking as he sprinkled the rat poison into the dough. The riot itself felt as real as the dream she saw this morning: a nightmare scape that couldn't have happened. That horrible scene should not be real.

But the light that peered through the cracks in the ceiling and reflected off the glass particles gave off a different feel. Somewhat calming in a way that kept Lucina scanning the street. Then she saw it; a blue sliver sticking out like a raised hand from the pile of broken glass and mashed pastries.

She avoided stepping on large pieces of glass by hopping over them lightly, and despite his disagreement, Robin followed closely behind. Lucina cringed as one piece of glass scraped against another in a deafening whine, leaned forward and grabbed the blue paper, slowly pulling it out of the pile of glass.

The sign that triggered the riot was stepped on and dampened, but the beautiful print was still legible. Parts of the paper was smooth and didn't feel stringy or rough. Even the blueness of the paper was distributed evenly like the sky peering through the cracks. Whoever that placed this last night has some extra change and a wide social circle to afford paper this high quality.

"You wanted to get the _sign_?" Robin sighed incredulously. "Actually, I'd want it too, if it was in fact written by the prince."

Lucina looked up at him. "Do you still think your prince wrote this?"

As Robin went to counter her "your prince" comment again, his eyes fixed to what lied before him. Lucina took notice in his alarmed state and turned around carefully as if to not disturb what was behind her, which was the bakery.

In the midst of the broken shelves and glass strewn across the floor, was a figure slouched on a stool. Lucina stared at the round body, not wanting to make any guesses in her mind and instead, just stared. Black garbage bags filled the shop. Some didn't smell like a bakery's garbage and the sheer amount of the pile was too much from one small shop. This is what Lucina saw from the other end of the street: people throwing their garbage into the wrecked shop as a final act of hatred.

The lights were dead but the cracks in the ceiling revealed the figure was wearing a long skirt and a nice blouse, or it was nice before. In her laced fingers was a single ring on her left hand. She sat, breathing heavily, seething through her teeth, as her shoulders rose up and down in clenched, angry movement.

Lucina felt Robin place a forewarning hand on her shoulder. She kept her hand on her Falchion as the she stood up, trying to not make as much sound, but that was impossible from the pile of the glass pieces underneath their shoes.

The screaming started. The two of them winced as the woman stomped her feet into the ground, not directing her anger to one thing in particular but maybe to the entire situation she is surrounded in. Her eyes appeared cloudy and out of focus. Her cries sounded incoherent at first, but as she went on, eventually breaking down into sobs, she was actually talking to someone.

"What did he do, he didn't deserve this, I don't deserve this, I was finally happy, I was going to have a baby with him, and start a family, and live humbly…"

The baker's wife curled her back, pressing her hands into her mouth and screamed. The louder she screamed, the harder she pressed her hands in to suppress the sound, but her pleas stung Lucina's eardrums. Eventually, she curled up too much that the stool she sat on lost balance and fell to the floor. The stool skidded away from her, crunching the glass and wood pieces.

For a brief moment, she let go of her face and tried to stand up. The pieces of glass must be covered inside the shop as the street is, so falling onto the floor should be dangerous. But that didn't stop her sobbing as her cries continued, echoing through the small shop.

Lucina searched for Robin with her hand, unable to take her eyes off from the baker's wife. He took her hand and they left without another word.

* * *

The two walked in sore silence. The blue paper weighed down in Lucina's hand as they neared the stairs that lead to her station. Robin didn't say a word or looked back once since they left the baker's wife, but as they came up to the stairs, Lucina noticed that his shoulders were shaking.

"Robin," She started.

As she went to rub his back for comfort, Robin stepped forward, away from her, gripping the bars next to the stairs with white knuckles.

"I'm sorry."

Robin ignored her apology. "I told you there was nothing there for us anymore."

"I wanted to get the sign." Lucina squeezed her answer out.

"It could have been anyone, I'm sure you're not the only one who saw the baker make those rat poison rolls, it could have been someone posing as the prince to get people excited that he came back." Robin raised his voice. He still had his back turned to her.

"Would an imposter have such fancy writing and this kind of quality paper?" She countered, bringing the blue paper up to him. "I think it actually was your prince that placed this—"

"Even if it was the prince, I…" He interrupted, but trailed off.

Lucina waited patiently. She had an idea what her friend wanted to say, and it was extremely difficult for him to admit it. Steam squealed from one of the dripping pipes so she stepped closer to Robin as he still tried to find his words.

"Prince Marth is a hero to me. Hearing stories about him and the Family kept me hopeful that there might be a better future for us." Robin began, but his voice still soft. Lucina nodded.

"He's the only person to have ever wanted to change the Citadel, and had that power… if you believe the stories. And, generally, you don't want to admit that your admirer has flaws and can make mistakes."

Her father and commander came into Lucina's mind. Thinking of either of them making a mistake was difficult to imagine, because she admired them and looked up to them for guidance. They aren't perfect, but they seem more perfect than her.

Robin raised his head. "What if he did?"

"Did what?"

"If he knew that baker had a family. If Prince Marth knew that he was married and was going to have a baby soon. He'd definitely teach his child to make those poisoned rolls, so Prince Marth decided to start the riot before the child was born. To put an end to that longing impact in the community."

Lucina looked straight into Robin's eyes. "I really doubt he thought it through that much. That bakery has been there for years, and he didn't marry and have a baby yesterday. Your prince wants to destroy the system, not seek moral justice."

She saw Robin taking in what she said. He made small nods, then dropped his shoulders, cupped his face, and sighed heavily.

"Okay. I understand your point." He agreed. "But then, why did you want that note?"

The blue paper appeared more white under the flickering orange lights. The flowing handwriting was determined and confident. What did the prince want to accomplish aside from starting a riot at a small corner of the Citadel, if he presumably wants to tear everything down?

"In my dream, he told me we were two sides of the same coin. And that riot happened as we saw that dying boy yesterday. I just can't shake the feeling that your prince and this extremist group is trying to resurface and reach out to… us."

Lucina didn't have the courage to say "me". She wanted Robin to laugh it off, now saying that she was the one who was overthinking it, but his response was unexpected.

"I'll help you."

"What?" Lucina looked up, scrunching her eyebrows together.

"Haha, What's that face for? I admit, I have a more biased view on Prince Marth but I have a lot of resources. You have your note and a more objective point of view, so we'll make a great team."

"With what?"

"Finding the prince. Isn't that what you want?" Robin tilted his head.

Seeing her friend point out this new revelation, and down into the blue note, Lucina felt a sense of anticipation building inside her. But ultimately, there was that twinge of fear. Even if Robin and her do find out what his motivations were, in the end, if the prince and the Family does resurface, she would be among the first to face him.

* * *

As promised, Ganondorf greeted Lucina at the entrance but she was transferred to another Royal Battalion station for the day. She entrusted the blue note to Robin for now, since Ganondorf didn't require any equipment from her except herself and the Falchion, and since she didn't want her commander interrogating her about it. Ganondorf may have more information that she'd want but getting it out of him without having him question her reasoning was difficult. As of now, her reason is purely "interest", which didn't seem convincing at the least. So despite her inner struggles, Ganondorf smiled wide and gave her the address of another station.

Five other guards were transferred with her to the Royal Battalion station in the Midst, an area underneath her station in the Outer Rim. Unlike the Outer Rim, the floors underneath it were void of sunlight. It wasn't as dark as the levels beneath that such as the Core and the Drain, but Lucina has never been in the lower levels. Besides, in the Drain, the bottom level of the Citadel, was just the massive water plant and sewage system, befitting of its given name.

Her companions were just as boring as the ones from yesterday, still teasing her of her small frame and large sword. But none of them talked about the riot or the prince for that matter during their thirty minute walk to the station.

The station was located some ways off the cylinder structure she and Robin passed by this morning. Sturdy but rusty metal bars protected the structure from falling into the abyss, but to Lucina, it felt like a prison.

During her work, the one memorable event was meeting the station commander. A non-human species, which was rare, and he was well-dressed like the rest. The jagged golden sword underneath his cape glistened proudly. Aside from that and the menacing mask and body armor, he was stubby and small. Lucina guessed that was the reason that he preferred to perch in the higher spots of the station, such as now, from the chandelier adorned with candles hanging from the ceiling.

"Welcome, guards." He greeted them, a surprisingly low voice from a small frame. "I am Commander Meta Knight of the Four Wings. Have you met the other Wings yet?"

There was a general murmur of "no". Lucina has heard of the four elite Royal Battalion commanders called the "Four Wings" but Meta Knight was the first she met. He was the first commander she's met beside Ganondorf for that matter also.

One guard whispered to another about the commander's small size. At that precise moment, Meta Knight spread his cape and swooped down to the guard, landing with soft impact. The guard yelped and stumbled back.

Lucina observed the two limbs sprouting from Meta Knight's back with amazement. Dark, featherless, and almost translucent from the candle light, the wings were like nothing she had seen before. The ones she has seen are chickens in cages frantically flapping their feathers. If she had wings like that soaring through the air as she pleased, that would feel wonderful and also grab a lot of unwanted attention.

"Did you have a question?" Meta Knight warned. His yellow eyes gleamed from behind the silver face mask. The dark wings arched forward as if they were going to devour the man if he said the wrong answer.

"No, sir." The guard gulped.

"That's what I thought. Follow me." The commander turned, his wings unfurling back into a cloth again.

The guards behind him also sighed a breath of relief and followed the commander. Lucina, being too entranced by the wings, pinched her own cape and stared at it but shook off her fantasy thoughts and kept walking with the group.

At the end of the day, Lucina was glad that Meta Knight acknowledged her sword skills despite her Falchion not fitting her frame. He was strict, especially hard on the ones that made fun of his body size so Lucina had to suppress a scoff at the poor guard sweating up a storm and swinging his weapon around.

As the guards left the practice arena, Lucina was stopped by Meta Knight. His echoing voice made Lucina jump.

"Lucius." He called.

"Yes, commander."

"Did you choose your weapon, or was that sword a family heirloom?" Meta Knight eyed the Falchion inquisitively.

"My father passed this down to me. He taught me the basics."

"Wonderful." Meta Knight nodded. "But I still think it's a bit too heavy for your build; I can offer you a rapier until you are ready. What do you think?"

Lucina blinked and instinctively gripped the Falchion's hilt. The commander chuckled from her response.

"I don't mean to take your sword. You can keep that at home and I can lend you another, is what I'm trying to say."

The truth is, Lucina has tried using a smaller one-handed sword back at her station in the Outer Rim. It did feel lighter and merged well with her body but it just didn't feel right. The Falchion made her feel closer to home when she was outside the apartment room.

"I appreciate your offer, sir, but I'll stick with my sword." Lucina replied.

"Well said."

Underneath the silver mask, Lucina thought she saw Meta Knight smile.

As she was getting ready to end her shift, Lucina noticed her companions had left without her. Maybe they saw her and the commander exchange pleasant conversations and was envious and left. She rolled her eyes. She already vowed not to make unnecessary friendly conversation with the other guards anyway.

Lucina was dismissed by Meta Knight, who nodded and walked down the dark hallway. His footsteps echoed in the empty station and Lucina half expected the commander to spread his wings again to perch on the chandelier, but she turned back and closed the auto-lock doors behind her.

* * *

Retracing her steps back to the Outer Rim, Lucina remembered that Robin promised to wait for her at the steps of her station. He said he was willing to wait for her at the entrance, but Lucina didn't want him to venture far into the Midst so he complied. As a general rule, the farther down the levels, the more dangerous the Citadel is in terms of living conditions and incidents. Although that differed with certain areas, usually, the darker the alleyway, the more places someone with malicious intent can hide.

At the steps to her station, a pipe worker was sitting on the top of a ladder and wrenching the screaming pipes shut. His buddy was supporting the ladder and pointing out the holes in the old pipes. The floor was relatively quiet as businesses closed for the night.

But Robin wasn't there.

The blood drained from Lucina's face. They were always precise with the time and spot to meet. Even if one of them fell ill or something was in the way of their arrival, they would meet within five minutes. Once Lucina had enough money, she thought of buying a transceiver for Robin, her father, and herself to stay in contact, but they've been good at meeting so she was patient with her paycheck.

 _Stop it, wait five minutes,_ she thought.

Lucina counted the seconds in her mind impatiently. Counting too fast, she started over, but then counted too fast again and stopped. She eyed the workers, who were done with the pipes and laughed amongst themselves as they walked down the hallway and took a right. Lucina sunk into the bottom steps of the stairs and grabbed her head.

 _Could Robin just be late? No, he's always the early one. Did he mistake the meeting spot? No, he was the one who said to meet at these stairs at 10:30. Did he stop by to check up on my father? No, he doesn't have the keys, what am I thinking, I'm the one who opens the locks._

The general conversation stirred in Lucina's mind like thick soup. Boiling, stirring, scraping the sides of the pot, steam building from the broth. Thinking of food now made her stomach turn but she hasn't ate since this morning. Did he get hungry and went to grab a bite at the cafeteria? The clock in the upholstery shop told she waited for 45 minutes.

The bakery. Had Robin taken that route and got into trouble?

Lucina scrambled to her feet, gripped the Falchion and sprinted down the street. Air whistled through her ears as she dodged the people in the hallways, complaining her recklessness, and she kept running.

A repulsive smell made her come into a skidding halt. The cleaners were there now. Some were human but most were white machines with ocular lenses and arm-like limbs that clear the road with metal slates. There was a big pile of glass and some of the cleaners were starting to gather the pieces into plastic disposal bins.

The smell came from the bakery. Lucina forgot her breath and stumbled back as she saw a glimpse of the body. Her limbs sprawled across the floor but appeared as if she was grabbing the stool she was sitting on this morning. Her face was frozen in a distorted state from severe trauma. The cleaners were wiping the blood and hosing down the rest with water, but Lucina could see the cuts and bruises that killed her.

She couldn't step any further to check if Robin was among that pile. It was an outrageous thought but there still was a mass of garbage bags, blood, and excited buzz in the street so she couldn't deny the possibility.

Did Robin protect the baker's wife as she was attacked? Did the prince start this as well? What did the baker's wife do to deserve this? Why did someone have power over someone's death? What is wrong with this world?

A hand tapped on Lucina's back.

A boy around six to eight years old was smiling up to her. Despite Lucina's shocked state, the boy was still cheerful. He had spots of yellow scattered across his arms and legs but he appeared healthy, and shy, knitting his fingers together eagerly. He wore a new blue shirt and clean pants, as well as shoes that fit his nudging feet.

"Thank you for helping me." Was all he said as he turned around and walked away.

Lucina stared at the boy, too stunned to even register thoughts in her head. As he turned the corner, looking back at Lucina once more and then taking off, Lucina crumpled to the floor. The poisoned boy from yesterday. He wore clothes like he picked them up from the dump. His legs were shaking and he was clearly dying. Robin said if he was eating the rolls for more than two days, there was nothing they could do. There was nothing _they_ could do.

"Why are you alive…?" She whispered.

Something warm dripped from the top of her head. The twinge of pain made Lucina wince as she found the soft, wet spot in her hair. A dark liquid smeared into the creases of her fingers, and as she finally noticed she was bleeding, her vision twisted and fell to the ground. The clatter of the Falchion hitting the floor quickly receded into nothing.

* * *

A sharp, stinging smell brought Lucina back into a conscious state. The sudden intake of breath made her gasp, then coughing out the smell of ammonia.

First, a piece of bandage blocked her view, but she saw a glimpse of the small white tube taken away from her nose: smelling salts. Someone knocked her out and woke her up, meaning she was relocated. Then Lucina noticed her hair was down and she was tied against a pole with sturdy rope. She was sitting but her legs weren't tied together. As expected, her Falchion was taken away from her. So they searched her, and now knows that she is a girl with a weapon.

Lucina cursed out loud, making the other person in the room laugh. She didn't expect the voice to be so young.

"So, are you a boy with long hair, a girl in disguise, or something in between?" A playful voice asked.

He was right in front of her. From her limited view, Lucina saw a boy, different from the one that thanked her. He had one hand on a baseball bat and was sitting in a chair. He had a red cap on, wearing a striped shirt and shorts like a normal boy, but something about him was undeniably intimidating. Perhaps because he was a young boy interrogating her.

When Lucina was silent, he stepped off of the chair.

"Sorry, that was kind of personal." He apologized. "Also your bandage is getting in your eyes so let me fix that."

As he pushed the bandage over Lucina's head, he had his baseball bat right above her eyes. A patch of blood was smeared over the middle indicating it was her blood.

"And I'm sorry I hit you a bit too hard when I knocked you out. I didn't mean to hurt you. Lucas worked hard on trying to stop your bleeding and putting some nice medicine on your head." He explained.

The Falchion was against the wall adjacent to her in the small interrogation room. On the small table, were the five hairpins. Her outer cloak and cape was folded and neatly placed next to the pins.

"Yes!" The boy snapped his fingers. "Those are your stuff. We had to search you since you look very strong, and ta-da! You had a big sword. I have no match with my bat against that sword so that's why it's sitting in the corner there."

Lucina knitted her mouth shut and looked down. The fluorescent light messed with her time perception but at least an hour should have passed. She tried to hold in the shivers, thinking of her father alone in the apartment room, waiting for her to come home. And Robin presumably still in the streets somewhere, wherever he may be, Lucina prayed it was a careless mistake that he wasn't there at the meeting spot.

A loud, disrupting noise struck between Lucina's feet. The baseball bat, upon closer inspection, had more than her blood on it. Some were blackened and smeared into the cracks, indicating this boy has been in this business for a while.

"Before we start, do you have any questions for me?" The boy said, his playful tone gone for the moment.

Lucina glared at him and kept her silence. A clock ticked from the other corner of the room. She could knock down a boy like him with her legs. But he did a good job of making her hesitate by hinting that he had other allies by pointing out that he wasn't the one who wrapped the bandages around her head. And the sheer elusiveness that a boy like him was an interrogator played a significant role in her hesitating to resist. He probably knows a lot of techniques into getting people bigger than him to talk.

"Let me enlighten you on your situation." The boy turned around, climbing up into the chair again.

"My name is Ness. You aren't in the Outer Rim, you are back into the Midst again. The time is…" The boy looked at the clock in the wall, swinging his legs from the chair, "Almost midnight. I'd like to get you out of here within the hour, if only you'd answer some easy questions."

Lucina caught one detail. "You followed me?"

Ness mockingly covered his mouth in fake surprise. "Oh, did I say 'back into the Midst'? Yes, we did see you go down into the Royal Battalion station with your other guards today."

"So you're the one who knocked on my door this morning." She stated.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ness honeyed his reply.

In her mind Lucina cursed again. If not him, then his allies surely has. That possibly makes another of his allies a kid also, judging from the height that sudden visitor knocked on her door early this morning. Now he knows her apartment room, her sword, her Royal Battalion station, and her identity.

"Oh, and your friend. He never made it to your meeting spot." He added.

Something with tension snapped off inside Lucina. Before she knew it, she stood up and jolted forward to knock Ness's chair down. Somehow, he stepped off with grace and landed on his two feet as the chair skidded to the other side of the room. Blood rushed through her head. The pounding intervals of pain strained her eyes as tears poured onto floor between her feet.

The baker's wife was a vivid image in her head. Screaming incoherently, not knowing where to aim her anger at, sobbing onto the floor. They didn't deserve this.

Ness became silent as Lucina collapsed to the floor again, hanging her head between her knees and sobbing quietly. Then, the door swung open, hitting the wall and slamming shut again. Another small being stormed through the room and grabbed Ness by his shirt.

"I told you to lay off on the friend thing!" He screeched.

"Did you? Sorry." Ness said lightly.

Lucina pulled her knees in tighter. Nothing was making sense. Up until yesterday, things were going okay for her. She has a father, he was sick but still laughed and was doing good with his medication. She had a best friend who cared for her and her father, as she cared for him. She started a new job which suited her strengths and has good paychecks. Then that riot happened, people died, and now she's here, interrogated by kids.

She could almost smell her father's broth. Lying down on her bed. Watching him sleep. Death seemed closer than she thought, and it seemed like a sweet release. Maybe the prince she saw in her dream was death itself.

"You." The other boy called, but Lucina ignored him.

"You, swordsman!" The boy called again, kicking Lucina's feet. "Your friend isn't dead! He went back to his potion shop or whatever."

"Spoken like a true counselor." Ness laughed.

"Shut the fudge up, that's why I trusted you for this."

"Also, how is this person going to trust you with that attitude? You need solid evidence that he's alive to assure that."

The other boy growled. He was a non-human species with green scales and sharp teeth, so when he growled, it was quite alarming. Tears were dried up in Lucina's eyes. She had to admit her heart skipped a beat when the other boy said Robin was alive, but that didn't explain his irrational disappearance.

"Toon, get me the potion guy again." The boy said.

He was talking into a smaller transceiver than the one Ganondorf had on his waist. How these kids got their hands on such an expensive device was a mystery, but then again, these two proved they're not ordinary kids either.

There was a beat of silence, then the device crackled, revealing a familiar voice. " _L-Lucius, is that you…?_ "

Lucina struck her eyes open. "Robin? Where were you?"

" _I'm sorry, I was—_ "

The boy shut off the transceiver and placed it on the table with force. "Okay. Your friend is alive. Now where did you put that blue note?"

Ness intervened, "First, you give them a bit of your information."

"Shut up, Ness. Well?" The boy asked again.

Lucina sniffed, and sat up straight. That voice was Robin. He hesitated to say "Lucina" but he did say "Lucius" to protect her identity. Whatever his reason for his disappearance may be, he's alive and back at his potion shop.

The other boy was right in trying to withhold information regarding Robin's safety. If Lucina didn't know if Robin was alive or not, she would be more vulnerable now into telling them information. In that case, Ness made a mistake.

"Tell me your name and your group's identity." She demanded.

Anger built up in the scale-y boy, making his scowl twitch. He turned to Ness and slapped his shoulder. Lucina observed the spiked shell on his back which made him appear like more of a turtle, than a lizard as she first thought he was. Also he wore a bandanna, or a bib, with a crudely drawn mouth with sharp teeth on it.

"See what you did, you dumb-butt? Now she thinks she has the upper hand. We had a _perfect_ window!"

"Do you think this swordsman is a girl? Because of the long hair?" Ness teased.

"Get out." He snapped.

"Okay." Ness shrugged and took his baseball bat. As he left the room, he waved at Lucina and winked, making the turtle boy growl again.

He situated himself in front of her, crossing his arms and sitting down with his legs pointed towards her. Now that Ness was out of the room, his scowl was less intense.

"I guess it's fair that I tell you what we are since we'll meet again from time to time." He grumbled. "I'm Bowser Jr. and I'm the leader of the Guerrillas, as you may know."

Lucina stayed quiet.

"…Well, you live in the Outer Rim so maybe you haven't heard of us. We try to help people against the crimes that happen to them, mostly here in the Midst. I want to know your involvement was with the riot that happened yesterday in the bakery."

The Guerrillas. Lucina has been taught of various group names of delinquents in the Citadel from the Outer Rim to the Core, but that one didn't ring a bell. Helping people against crimes sounds like vigilante activities, which was different than a regular gang. And these kids, maybe twelve years old at best, are trying to protect people? They may be skilled at first glance but it still felt unrealistic.

"You said you wanted the blue note." Lucina recalled.

"I was getting to that." Bowser Jr. replied.

"So, you saw the riot yesterday and didn't intervene?" She attempted at provoking him, but the leader smiled.

"We have standards. Like the prince that placed the note you picked up. By the sounds of that you don't seem to be part of the Family, but you did pick up the note. If it's not with you right now, is it with your friend?"

* * *

Author's Note: The cover image is really glitchy to me. Anybody else having this problem? Anyway, thank you for reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing. I hope you like the story so far!


	3. Sweet Nothings

"I'm taking your silence as a yes." Bowser Jr. cackled, wiggling his sharp toes.

Why he wants the blue note; Lucina stared at the floor thinking of that and why these kids would go through the trouble of kidnapping and interrogating her. The tears she spent still made marbles on the floor and she wished she hadn't shown such emotion when Ness told her that Robin didn't make it to the meeting point little over an hour ago. A part of her cursed her dependence on her friend. A part of her chastised herself for taking Robin for granted. But a large part of her was annoyed with herself that she was stuck in this situation.

Robin was okay. He apologized over the noise in the small transceiver Bowser Jr. had. For what, Lucina didn't know, but hopefully it was that he didn't go to the meeting point in time. Now, he should be at the potion shop face-to-face with one of Bowser Jr.'s allies. Hopefully he's not hurt.

The blue note she gave him is perhaps the only piece of tangible evidence that the Family exists today. Not only the extremist group but it might have been written by the leader himself. So the kids are after the Family as well, for interest or maybe admiration. The Guerrillas, the kids call themselves, are a vigilante group by name but seeing the way they treated her, they clearly have certain criterions on who is "good" and "bad" that Lucina doesn't agree on.

She had her head hung low between her knees and the hip-length hair obscured her vision. The Falchion, leaning on the wall and out of her reach, seemed like it was evaluating her. The only way for her to escape without giving the whereabouts of the note is to get her sword.

"Have you ever watched someone being tortured to death?" Lucina uttered.

Bowser Jr. took an unusual pause. "Yeah."

"I saw that twice. Yesterday and today." She continued.

Lucina waited for a response, but, silence. The curtain of hair obscuring her face helped her appear more confident and also not look at the boy, but having that weight pull on her head reminded Lucina of the exposure she's giving out. If she'd been born as a man, or even had the courage to defy her father and dead mother's wish of keeping her hair long, she wouldn't have to face this humiliation of being interrogated by kids younger than herself.

Before he fell ill, her father would occasionally voice his concerns that Lucina wasn't developing as much into adulthood. The exchange was always uncomfortable and Lucina would always be angry at him, making him chuckle and apologize and that would mark the end of the conversation. In the end it helped keep her disguise as a man to join the Royal Battalion.

Remembering the baker's wife lacing her fingers with the wedding ring, seemingly comfortable with her life before the riot, and her round physique and womanly clothes, made Lucina feel something close to admiration. A life she could have pursued. But even that can be taken away by someone else in a matter of seconds.

The words came to Lucina naturally. "I imagined myself killing that baker with my sword every time I pass by and see him make those poisoned rolls." She continued. "Each time I saw someone steal one, I thought he deserved to die. I sided with the thieves, even though I think stealing is immoral.

"Then the riot happened. People surrounding one person, stomping on him, punching him, stabbing pieces of glass into him, pouring dirty water on him, all the while screaming in his ears that he deserved all of it. Only his blood spilled in the street. And then today, his wife. I didn't even know he had a family but it didn't matter. She was lynched for being married to him. Of course she deserved to die; she was closely related to him."

"Doesn't mean anything." Bowser Jr. mumbled.

She picked up on how the boy voiced his words, then asked. "Did you ever think, if those people deserved to die?"

"Nobody deserves to die."

"Then why didn't you do anything? Were they an exception?" Lucina pressed.

"Y-You don't get to ask the questions." The boy interrupted. He wasn't very good at hiding the shakes in his voice. "I still have my ally at your friend's shop. If you're going to keep on making your darn vague antics, I'll assume your buddy has that note."

Lucina looked up. Bowser Jr.'s mouth was twitching so he bit it down. She used the same statement to provoke him only minutes ago and now, Bowser Jr. is folding his arms across his body and looking away from Lucina's eyes. He has resources and skilled allies but she deduced he's hesitating to take big actions.

If Robin didn't forget the location, he should have a sword hidden in the potion shop. A very powerful one, perhaps more powerful than her Falchion. The sword that he doesn't recollect ever purchasing but was there since he started learning techniques from her father. Robin said it could have been his family's sword because now he lives alone. Anyway, he can defend himself.

Confirming that Robin has the blue note will make Bowser Jr.'s ally attack the potion shop. Denying it wouldn't work since supposedly they've seen them pick it up this morning. Lucina needed a third option, which came quickly. For once she was genuinely proud of her occupation.

"I gave it to my commander to investigate your extremist group." She answered, and tried her best to suppress her smile when Bowser Jr.'s mouth hung open in shock.

"You… son of a _dog_!" He screamed.

Another boy opened the door meekly, peeking in the room, but quickly shut it closed when Bowser Jr. grabbed a leg of the table and hurled it against the wall with one arm. The old plastic table made a ear-splitting crack as it bounced off and landed with its legs in the air.

The tremor it made in the thin walls made the Falchion lose balance and fall forward onto the floor. The hilt sliding out of its sheath tapped on Lucina's boots. Tension filled the room as hair pins scattered and the two cloths landed as a mess of wrinkles. Bowser Jr.'s flash of anger quickly dissipated as Lucina grabbed hold of the hilt. In one swift move, she drew the blade out of its sheath, using the speed to cut the ropes that bound her hands together. A tremor of pain made her heart skip as she cut the ropes too deep but managed to stand up.

Her own blood slithered down the blade like red strings as she pointed the sword tip to Bowser Jr. Rather than the blade, the sight of fresh blood dripping at his feet made the boy step back.

"Why did, why would you ever side with them? They destroyed everything! We were never meant to live in this pile of trash! We're better than this! Your note could have _saved all of us_!" The boy cried, enunciating each claim with shaking fists, but taking more steps away from the blade.

Admiration, Lucina assumed. Just like how Robin would fantasize that the prince would solve all of the problems in the Citadel. Bowser Jr. and his allies believe in the Family so much that they'll go through anything to reach out to them. But what if the Family was just as a child as he was, but with a group of adults. Adults with fantasy ideals that tearing a rotten system down will make a better world.

The words escaped Lucina's mouth before she could stop to think.

"I wish I could help you."

Bowser Jr. flinched, then stared at Lucina with confused awe. Unable to stay any longer, Lucina sheathed the Falchion, grabbed her cloak and cape and shoved through the door.

A boy with yellow-blonde hair was standing in the doorway. His hands were full with a first aid kit and crumpled rolls of bandages so he just pressed against the wall for Lucina to go. A couple members of the Guerrillas noticed Lucina but did not react fast enough to stop her. They were all young boys, humans and non-human species approximately ten to twelve years old. There were beds and living spaces Lucina had to sprint through before she tore the door open to the streets again.

The Midst was silent save the gurgling, steaming water plant at the bottom. Her heart pounded against her rib cage, her breath faint, but she automatically tied her long hair with the bandage around her head and hid it with her cape and cloak. The shadows the clothes provided her helped her breath ease. Her wrist still bled a bit so she tore a piece of the bandage to wrap it around her cuts. At least it wasn't her dominant hand and didn't hit a vein. There was confused chatter going on in the hideout so Lucina took that as a cue to leave.

 _I wish I could help you._ Her own words resonated in each step she took.

* * *

Lucina decided to walk back to the Outer Rim. Running through the streets in the Midst past midnight was just asking for trouble. Fortunately, the hideout was relatively close to the Royal Battalion station of Commander Meta Knight so she recognized her bearings. Visiting the commander seemed like a good idea but her poorly disguised hair, wounds on her head and wrist, and her terrified expression would lead to some questions she did not have the willpower to answer. Especially after the compliments Meta Knight gave her, Lucina couldn't risk facing whatever complications that may rain down on her after tonight's events.

Nighttime seemed more dangerous than day but perhaps that wasn't the case in the Midst. The streets past midnight were eerily calm and quiet. At least in the Outer Rim, there was constant noise that Lucina had grown used to as she slept. Some people just didn't sleep at night.

The difference between day and night was very minimal. The view from the caged window in the apartment room faced upwards so Lucina could see the sky and sunlight, but the sense of sleeping at night and waking up in the morning was drilled into her from her father since she was little. But hearing the never-ending noise outside the room made her question the need of day and night. If anything, she'd sleep when she was tired, but like her current occupation and her long hair, she had to keep her sleeping schedule to a routine also.

Although, tonight, Lucina gave up on sleeping on a normal time. She prayed Robin was at the potion shop as her feet automatically walked towards that street. The area around the one-person rooms were relatively more dangerous because only one person would occupy those rooms, and if they're not home, they better have good locks and sturdy doors.

There were almost no people in the streets, but her tight grip around the sword didn't relax until she approached the potion shop, another hour later. Lucina almost collapsed in the street in relief from smelling the soothing, saccharine cough syrup that came from the shop. But she traced along the damp walls to drag her feet to the entrance.

She knocked on the door with the code that she and Robin uses when he visits her apartment room. Almost instantly the door swung open, jingling from the bells attached on the top, revealing Robin. With no time to spare, he pulled Lucina in the shop by her shoulders and locked the door behind them.

The two of them stood at the doorway in relieved silence, burying their faces in each other's shoulders in a snug embrace. The clock ticked a quarter past 2 a.m. and as soon as Lucina saw that time, her eyelids and limbs slackened in Robin's arms.

"Don't fall asleep here." Robin whispered, referencing Chrom's words from last night.

"I'm awake." Lucina replied, a brief smile hung from her lips.

* * *

Robin came back a half an hour later after slipping a note underneath the door of Lucina's apartment room that said she came back and will be staying at the potion shop for the night. He reassured her that Chrom knocked, told Robin to wait, and wrote back a note before he left. Lucina didn't recall having any loose leafs in the apartment room but she guessed they did as he gave her the folded piece of paper.

In shaky writing, the note read: " _You're the only true family I have left. I love you. Take care."_

Without thinking she pressed the paper to her nose. The coarse material scratched at her skin but it smelled like the cotton in her father's shirt. In a corner of her mind, Lucina hoped her father would scold her for being so rash and careless. But he never scolded her. Always smiling, always reassuring, always positive.

The tub of clean water revealed Lucina's exhausted face as Robin helped wash the wound on her head and wrist. There were scratches and purple bruises on her cheeks that she didn't notice before from when the kids knocked her out and she hit the floor face first.

"…Huh, you have antibiotics rubbed in your wound here." Robin remarked as he gently dabbed at Lucina's head with a wet towel.

She remembered the first interrogator, Ness, saying that someone else took care of her wound and rubbed 'nice medicine' on her head. She slowly recollected and explained the moments from since she couldn't find Robin: waiting for him to arrive but then had a hunch and going to the bakery again, finding the wife murdered and cleaners taking care of the mess…

"Damn it, I wanted to talk her out of the shop so she wouldn't be in any trouble…" Robin added.

"You went back to the bakery?" Lucina restated.

"Yeah, I was going to the stairs to wait for you but on the way I just couldn't help it and went back to the cafeteria again. There was another big commotion and I tried to see what was going on, then _blank_. I woke up in the bed at the potion shop to find this kid with a green windsock hat pointing a sword to my stomach and shoving a transceiver in my face." He explained, making gestures of the windsock hat. "He told me to talk to my friend so I thought you were in trouble."

Lucina assumed the kid was another of Bowser Jr.'s allies. Perhaps he knocked Robin out too and brought him back to the potion shop for some reason. There could've been a team of kids who went after her and Robin separately to give the illusion that the other disappeared from both perspectives. Bowser Jr. must be desperate in getting his hands on that blue note.

"Where did you put that note?"

Robin pointed to one of the stacked books on the table. "I have it in between the pages of the blue one there. Do you still want me to keep it?"

The blue book seemed to hold a different kind of weight compared to the other similar ones scattered on the table. One mere piece of paper that shaped Lucina's past couple of days, and now seemed like the key to everything, just in between the pages of that book.

"…I'm not sure. I was kidnapped by these kids called the Guerrillas and they searched me and demanded I tell them where I put the note. They seemed like they were after the Family too."

"Whoa, back track, the _Guerrillas_?" Robin peered over, looking at Lucina as if she said an outrageous lie.

"Tell me what you know of them."

"Umm, you went to the Midst today, right? You didn't see their graffiti?" He asked, then shrugged when Lucina shook her head. "Well, they're a bunch of kids that do kind of the same thing that Prince Marth did yesterday, addressing problems and trying to do good."

"Trying." Lucina emphasized.

Robin scoffed. "Yeah, gee, I can't believe they kidnapped people. So that windsock kid was a member too, I'm guessing. Wow, I can't believe they did this to you. Everybody is willing to do anything to get what they want."

A soothing sensation gently pressed on Lucina's head as Robin wrapped a new set of bandages under her chin, then over her head. Her cut on her wrist was clean and straight so it wasn't a serious pain compared to the bludgeoning she received on her head. The cuts and bruises on her face were more difficult to cover up. She sighed, having to think of a story to tell her commander of her injuries.

Lucina continued, "When I told the leader I gave the note to my commander, he said if I had given him it, I could have saved all of us."

"How so?" Her friend asked, more genuinely than she expected.

Her response to Bowser Jr. reflected how she would have responded to Robin, so Lucina kept quiet. _I wish I could help you_ , she thought. By now, to Lucina, it sounded like a curse than wishful thinking.

After minutes of silence, Robin changed the subject. "So where did your hairpins go?"

Lucina waited a bit before answering. "…I didn't have time to grab them when I escaped their hideout. They searched me thoroughly and now they know my identity. But I suppose I was lucky that I gave you the note before I went to work."

Robin turned her around in the chair so he could tend to the bruises on her face. He gave her an uplifting smile. "You are still you. It doesn't change who you are in any way. And they can't use your identity against you if they're scared of the Royal Battalion, if that's what you mean."

"They aren't scared of lowly guards like me, apparently." Lucina looked away from Robin's beaming smile.

"But you showed them up and escaped from them alone, despite being kidnapped and tied up. You are the strongest person I know, including women, men, and all non-human species." He added, dabbing a piece of cotton in some liquid.

As he reached for Lucina's cheek with the cotton ball, she instinctively leaned back in her chair, in fear of the piercing pain that would entail from the medicine touching her wound. "…Okay, so you're not the best with pain tolerance, but you probably are the strongest person I know."

"Shut it." She muttered, hiding a smile underneath her bruised cheeks.

* * *

Lucina found herself staring at the blue note as Robin cleaned his supplies and set up the bed for her. She could actually leave the note at her Royal Battalion station. It was the most secure place she could think of with the least possibility of it being broken in and stolen from her. That also means that her commander might spot it and take it away from her for investigation. Since the threat of the Family is the sole reason why the Royal Battalion has gotten so much bigger these past fifteen years, once Ganondorf gets the blue note, Lucina may never see it again.

Perhaps she could convince Ganondorf into helping her investigate the Family. But considering her tongue-tied talk with him about the baker and the poison rolls yesterday, getting that approved will definitely be a difficult task.

Although Ganondorf is considerate and caring, he is still a Royal Battalion commander who thinks Lucina is a young boy named 'Lucius' who was an excelling trainee and probably assumes she's willing to take any task without question.

' _Rat Poison_ ' looped in Lucina's head as she absentmindedly read that portion of the note over and over again.

She felt a hand tap her on the back. Somehow, she assumed a child was doing that other than the only person in the shop besides her. So when she turned around to find Robin, Lucina almost jumped out of her skin.

"Sorry, did I catch you red-handed?" Robin chuckled.

"No." She answered. "I just forgot one last thing that happened to me tonight."

As Lucina explained of the poisoned boy thanking her right before she blacked out, the smile on Robin's face faded into concern. Before he could ask if it actually was the boy that they abandoned yesterday, Lucina recalled of the yellow spots on the boys arms. Although he did appear healthy, he still had the residue of the yellow pellets in his skin.

Robin sank down in a nearby chair and rubbed his forehead. "But, that doesn't make… he had new clothes too?"

"Yes, and he thanked _me_ for them. He almost seemed like a ghost, but that was what made me stop and think before the kids knocked me out."

"So, assuming the Guerrillas only have access to simple medicine like the antibiotics they used on your head, it must have been some outside source that gave him powerful antidotes and a new set of clothes. But why would he thank you? Was he told to thank you specifically?" Robin thought out loud.

The overwhelming presence of the Family hung over Lucina. However, after tonight, the tradeoff of delving deeper into this and the risk that comes with it was dangerous. Risking her father and best friend's life for a gang wasn't really worth it.

But even if it was a dream, if the prince wanted her to have his note, then she was the one worthy of keeping it. In some happenstance that she would hand the note to Ganondorf or to Bowser Jr., either way there would be regret that there was no personal closure. She noticed she had a protective hand over the blue note as she thought about it.

Lucina didn't want to admit to pointing every mysterious event to the dead extremist group. They definitely have her full attention if that was their goal. As much as she wanted nothing to do with the Family, she'd never been more curious about something.

"Lucina, let's get some sleep." Robin suggested. "We'll go to Chrom in the morning and think later. Wake me up if anything bothers you."

And with that, the following morning passed over Lucina. She rested in the small temporary bed for a couple hours until general conversation filled the street and disturbed her sleep. Before they left for the apartment room, she said her brief greetings to Dr. Mario, the first to arrive to work at the potion shop. At first he gave a knowing look to Robin, but he quickly explained of the situation.

Chrom didn't ask questions. This morning, he couldn't sit up in bed or say anything, but gave Lucina a smile and a loose handshake. Lucina couldn't meet her father's gaze as he looked over her injuries with just his eyes. After giving him his medication for the day, he mouthed the words: "I love you." And Lucina mirrored uneasily.

Before work, Robin thought of a temporary method of using the bandages to tuck her hair underneath them. It was a tight wrap so there were more bandages under her chin but it was a passing disguise.

* * *

Her commander was more concerned than she expected, so Lucina was by his side in the balcony while her companions practiced in the arena. A couple hours later, Ganondorf finally broke the tense silence.

"You're falling asleep, Lucius. Do so at home." He suggested.

"No, sir. My duty is until ten." Lucina shook her head.

Lucina knew her words were unconvincing because of her heavy eyelids and bandaged self. As much as her body wanted nothing more than to just sink into her bed, being patronized on her third day of duty was not a good start into her career.

When she clocked in this morning, her seniors teased her injuries and belittled her like she was still a newly recruited trainee. Even the companions that trained with her at Commander Meta Knight's station yesterday harassed her that she deserved the beating because she was the commanders' favorite. Normally she'd ignore these disputes, but today it stung like dull needles.

Pulling the cloak over her head seemed comfortable, but that also meant that she was succumbing to their words. So instead, she gripped the hilt of the Falchion until her nails dug into her palm.

There were other things to worry about. If there was a list of priorities, worrying about her reputation in the Royal Battalion was almost close to the bottom. Probably not even on the list. Still, her pride was in the way of letting her injuries take over her shift.

"There was a riot by the cafeteria." Ganondorf started.

Lucina was assuming he'd force her to go home, so a conversation was unexpected.

"A day before yesterday, yes." She replied.

"And then yesterday, there was another. At the same place."

Somehow, he sounded like he was choosing his words carefully. Lucina listened to each of them.

Ganondorf gazed down into the arena. "I was informed of the aftermath before you came in today. Only two people were killed in those two days: the lynched victims. Now you may think the Royal Battalion only cares about the Royals they serve, but we do forensic researches as well. Do you know why?"

"I do not, sir."

"I do not either." Her commander smiled.

His response was even more unexpected than the beginning of the conversation, so all Lucina could do was to blink. The tension within her was gone but she doubted that was what he wanted to do.

He continued. "Likewise, I don't understand why you would risk yourself in the second riot, assuming that's where you received all of these injuries from. But I heard your companions say that you deserved those, and I whole-heartedly disagree. Nobody deserves to die."

The last sentence sent chills down her spine. At that moment, her impulse was to explain that she was kidnapped after witnessing the wife's tortured body at the bakery. To straighten out the details of what actually happened to her. But as another guard approached Ganondorf for guidance, Lucina found herself glad that she didn't explain. Her eyes were wide and alert even after her commander gestured for her to go home again while he talked to the guard. This time, she did listen.

As head commander of the station in the Outer Rim, Ganondorf has access to more in-depth information about the Family. The first time Lucina heard of the prince's name was through his transceiver as well. But that doesn't mean he would share such confidential information to a low level guard like Lucina. Worst case scenario, he would take all of her information like the blue note and hand it to the research division, giving Lucina less insight than she started out with. If he suspects that she had some involvement with the prince, she needed to think of an excuse for her injuries.

 _I fell down the stairs? I got into a fight? I fended off some goons?_ Reasons popped and faded in her head as she walked down to the potion shop again.

As usual, Robin promised to pick her up after her shift so Lucina stopped by to let him know she was relieved early. The shop was relatively quiet as there was no line and Dr. Mario was reading a book from the counter. The street to the shop was always comforting as it was one of the safest places in the Outer Rim. Primarily because there was less clutter and shops around.

Dr. Mario noticed Lucina approaching the counter and set his book down, lacing his fingers. "Were you the one sleeping in the bed this morning?"

"Yes." She responded, somewhat meekly.

"So you're the Lucius that sells us the Echinacea and other stuff! Sorry for being so rude this morning. Oh, I've always wanted to meet you. Mario is me name."

Lucina shook hands with him over the counter, relieved that Robin explained to him as a boy. She noticed she'd never introduced herself to Robin's co-workers, since he always drops off her father's meds at their apartment and she sells her plants through him. And when she visits the shop, it's always after hours.

Robin called from the back of the shop. "I thought your signature greeting was 'it's a-me, Mario!', when did you change that?"

"Since I can say more than one greeting!" Dr. Mario shouted back, a bit of red painting his cheeks and plump nose. "Your friend needs to chat again, Robin!"

Lucina covered her smiles for Dr. Mario's sake.

Her father was still asleep as she came home early. Peering underneath the blanket, she saw his legs were painfully curled and almost touching his chest, as if he was forced inside a small box. After carefully repositioning his blanket, Lucina patted her father's back in soft intervals hoping that would help him relax. It didn't really soothe him as much as Lucina felt relieved to see him sleep, even though he wasn't the most comfortable.

The calendar tacked up on the wall marked that her day off was tomorrow. She saw the holiday as a day to sleep but she shook off that idea. Ganondorf gave her more than half of the day off today so sleep day should be tonight. Starting tomorrow, there was another ongoing objective that Lucina made a mental note on.

After setting the Falchion on the wall and changing into her nightclothes, she finally realized the numb pain that enclosed her body. From her head, wrist, face, and the mental damage deep in her lungs, the noises coming from outside the room slurred into quiet, incoherent voices until she shook her head.

Bowser Jr. was a vivid image as Lucina laid face down on her mattress. She could have easily imagined killing the baker, but she couldn't even think about killing him. Just pointing her sword to him felt wrong at that moment. His young age wasn't an obstacle, considering she could have died last night by their hands. But in some aspects he and Robin were alike.

Come tomorrow, things will be more different.

A headache woke her up six hours later. The antibiotics plus pain reliever gel that Dr. Mario gave Lucina sat at the dresser, but thinking of undoing the bandages and looking at the bashing on her head made her discouraged. Apparently Robin explained her incident to Dr. Mario since he just made her take the small bottle of gel with a finger to his lips as if it was a big secret. He even wished her father good health so Lucina considered to visit the shop more often.

Her father was still asleep. Sometimes he'll sleep through the entire day. It happened occasionally, and Lucina would need to remember to shift his position to avoid blood clots. But Lucina was relieved that he had a more relaxed position now. The wrinkles between his eyebrows were less severe as the night passed.

So Lucina sat in the kitchen, looking out the caged window to a square night sky with her father's broth in hand. In the back of her mind, she wished for Robin's company but they already agreed on meeting tomorrow morning at the stairs to search for the poisoned boy.

Many thoughts crossed her mind, but for tonight, she sipped on the warm soup and listened to her father snore lightly from his room. After three cups, Lucina crawled back into her bed again and closed her eyes.

* * *

"You look well rested." Robin remarked.

"I slept for thirteen hours. I even woke up later than my father this morning."

Robin smiled a mile wide. He had his brown bag crossed over him with a couple books in its pockets. Lucina could read basic writing but a lot of the books Robin read were in arcane medical terms so even though the language was the same, to her, the words seem to float and swirl around the pages.

She did recognize the blue book, the one that held the blue note.

"Are you off work too?"

"I switched shifts with another person, so I'm free."

"Sorry." Lucina apologized. She felt guilty explaining her plans to search for the poisoned boy without consulting Robin's schedule, though he gave her a straight yes.

"Don't be sorry. Didn't we agree on being a team to find the prince?" Robin leaned in and whispered 'prince'; while it was silly, Lucina understood.

"…I have the objective view and you have the resources?" She recalled.

"Exactly."

Without defining a destination, Lucina found herself walking toward the bakery again. Robin was a bit hesitant and falling behind, but started to walk up to the empty shop himself as they saw the street was cleaned like nothing had happened. Bits of glass still shone from the cracks in the ceiling but the pastries, blood, garbage, and the wrecked store was wiped off.

The cleaners must have painted the walls, since the pasty color was strangely and exceptionally white. The only detail that felt like a part of the street was the terrible handwritten sign ' _Available_ _Space_ ' that appeared as if each letter was written simultaneously by three inept people then dipped in oil. After a quick inspection, the two avoided staying in that area for too long by sitting at the tables in the cafeteria.

"Squeaky clean." Robin muttered. "I don't think anybody will be willing to fill its space anytime soon though."

"Probably not."

Robin absently scraped the residue on the metal table with an unattended spoon. He wrinkled his nose as he scratched a tacky portion of the old food. Conversations and noise filled the hall but Lucina was nowhere close to feeling comfortable being there. Still, she needed to investigate further.

In one of the shops, a cook let out a shriek, making a pot full of tomato bisque tumble out the kitchen. As the two cooks started to grab each other's aprons for some angry reason, the people sitting in the tables rolled their eyes and scooted away from the commotion. The red broth spread across the tile like thick blood.

Lucina could see Robin trying not to pay attention to the fight, but his head was tilting toward the noise. She started recapping her experience to redirect his attention.

"The boy found me at the corner where we were peeking into the riot. It was right in front of the wife's body so I wondered if he was waiting there for me."

He stared at his laced fingers. "I don't know. And again, it seems so weird that he sought you out and thanked you, even though you obviously weren't the one that helped him."

"The Guerrillas didn't know, so I don't think the boy was part of their plan."

"Yeah. I doubt they have stronger antidotes than what I have at the shop. And they could have easily calculated you would be at the bakery considering what happened to the wife."

A guttural roar ripped through the cafeteria. The people who were slightly annoyed now started to voice their concern as more pots and ceramics stormed through the kitchen.

Lucina caught a glimpse of one person in the kitchen. She was surprised with her retention but it was the man who poured dirty water onto the baker during the riot. She was disgusted by the display, or the lack there of since the action was in the back of the kitchen, but as they both fell silent, Lucina couldn't help but stare at the source of the noise.

It took her a while to realize Robin was patting her arm to get her attention. In the end, he had to grab her shoulders and turn her head.

"Look!" He cried.

Within the many heads peering into the fight, was a familiar boy with the same clothes as he wore last night. An ugly yellow patch shone on the boy's cheek when he disappeared from the corner after noticing the two people staring back at him. Lucina didn't miss the boy smiling before he slipped away.

"Why is he running?" Robin groaned as he grabbed his bag and started after him.

Granted it might have been the fight that brought the attention, Lucina couldn't shake the feeling that finding the boy was too easy. Like he wanted to be found again. But having no time to process her suspicions, she pushed through the opposing stream of people trying to catch a glimpse of the fight between two cooks.

* * *

Beyond the streets where the cafeteria and the bakery lies, were the processing plants and small factories. Most seemed family owned since rarely did the people ever come in or leave the shop. They seemed like objects, moving their hands around on a piece of cloth or food in a set pattern for the next person to do a different pattern. It wasn't necessarily happy, but it was a quiet district. So in a way, this street was more safe to pass through.

Robin made tight corners to run after the boy. Every once in a while he'd look back to see if Lucina was keeping up but the boy was surprisingly quick. After going down a flight of stairs and running up a couple slopes, Lucina lost track of her bearings and even whether if it was still the Outer Rim or not. She hoped it was, since the water dripping down the walls were becoming more dry and crusty.

The noise from a machine operated upholstery factory vibrated Lucina's insides. Robin had his hand to a wall and was bent over. As she went up to him, she noticed the area was void of people. The boy was nowhere to be found.

"I lost him." Robin said between breaths. "He's gotten some running practice these past two days."

"Perhaps it wasn't him…"

"No, it's him alright. I'll never forget his face." Robin looked up at Lucina. He had such determination in his eyes, her immediate response was to apologize so she looked away. She thought of how if Robin was there last night when she met the boy again, he would have followed him instead of standing there.

An elderly man emerged from the factory with a book in hand. He didn't particularly seem angry or even annoyed but had a certain squint in his eyes like the dark street was too bright for him. Lucina placed a hand on the Falchion's hilt instinctively.

"What are you boys doing? Playing tag?" He cried out.

Lucina stayed quiet but Robin put a smile on his face. "Yes, sir! I just lost track of my friend that passed by here."

"He probably went to the orphanage down them stairs!" The man pointed down a street with a painted yellow sign. The writing was nice and relatively new but it didn't say it was an orphanage. In curvy letters the stairs lead to the 'Society of Smiles'.

"Take one home! Do more good in your life!" The man laughed as he pulled out a chair.

The factory was overpowering but Lucina could hear more voices coming from downstairs. Bright fluorescent light spilled from the open door. Robin tapped on her shoulder to usher her down as he laughed back at the old man.

"Did you find that funny?" Lucina said.

"Nah. I just felt like matching his tone. He kind of looked like a nice man though. But I don't like how the acronym spells out SOS."

She looked back at the sign again. "I'm not sure if they intended that…"

There were a couple of orphanages in the Outer Rim but most were unsanitary and scarce on supplies. People would rarely adopt or even pass by the facilities since some children are desperate enough to follow people and on occasion rob or attack them for any goods they can take. But the 'Society of Smiles' seemed unusually happy.

A head poked from the room. Lucina took a step back but behind her, Robin recognized him and raised his pace down the stairs. When the boy withdrew again, Lucina grabbed her friend's coat. Robin made a quick gagging sound and rubbed his neck but had an understanding look on his face. He leaned on the wall to motion he's not advancing so Lucina let go.

"You have a bad feeling about this?" He asked under his breath.

Lucina nodded.

"We didn't actually help him, I abandoned him." She enunciated. Voicing her concerns made her heart pound harder.

"How about I take the first peek? Look, I even brought my Levin Sword today." Robin said, revealing the hilt of his sword from his coat. Seeing the hilt did bring a degree of relief to Lucina but it wasn't enough for her to let her friend go down the stairs.

"I think it's an unnecessary risk."

Robin turned to face her. "I tried to stop you when we went to see the riot, again when you wanted the blue note, and look at how far we got. If you're not interested anymore, that's fine. We can go home. But if you are even a little bit interested, I think we should see what's in that room. I'll always be with you."

"I can't lose you again." Lucina blurted out. As she said it, she felt her face flush from Robin blinking and staring back at her in surprise.

At that moment, another head poked out from the orphanage. A man with bright red hair wearing a yellow apron found Lucina and Robin and stepped out. When he met eyes with the two of them, he gave them a grin.

"Am I interrupting something?"

It took Robin a second to answer him. "We're… looking for a boy with a blue shirt."

The man stifled a laugh. "Um, that's very broad, but there are a couple boys with blue shirts. Do you guys want to come in?"

His frank demeanor and appearance was unlike any other worker at an orphanage Lucina had seen. While that added to the suspicion, she found herself pulling on Robin's arm down the stairs with bravado. And as Robin said, she was more than a little interested at what was beyond the open door.

The Society of Smiles wasn't a large place, but the common room was filled with color and kids playing with each other. The only entertainment available to them were pencil and paper and some cardboard boxes, but they did have one luxury: crayons. They were used liberally across the painted walls.

"Roy, by the way." The man pointed at his name tag then shook their hands. Under the fluorescent light now, he didn't look much older than Lucina and Robin.

"I'm Robin, this is my friend Lucius. The boy we're looking for should have just come back in. We followed him here."

Roy tilted his head. "Why were you following him?"

His question must have taken Robin aback since he got caught up in his words. Another caregiver walked up to the three of them, covered in clinging, giggling children. Although he wore the same yellow apron Roy had on, the dark blue skintight suit and muscular body was a bit out of place in an orphanage.

"You guys here to adopt? I don't mind any sexual orientation and family structure but I am concerned if you two are old enough to handle these rascals." The other man laughed, raising his arms in the air to make the kids dangle off of him.

"These guys followed one of the boys in." Roy told him.

"Oh? I'm glad he came back. No venturing outside unless you're accompanied by one of us, okay?" The muscular man told the children, which they responded formally with a 'Yes, Captain' as if they were a part of the Royal Battalion.

"He, uh, should have yellow patches on his arms and legs." Robin faltered.

The Captain snapped his fingers. "I know who you're talking about. He's the new shy guy. He must be hiding somewhere."

He scanned the room for the boy but with the cardboard forts and curtains, the boy could have gone back into hiding. All of the children appeared healthy and energetic, thus none of them seemed to have yellow phosphorus poisoning. Lucina felt like walking across the room and looking at each kid's face to find the boy, but the happy energy in the room planted her in place.

"Do you two mind waiting a couple days before adoption so he can be more comfortable with this place?" The Captain asked.

"Actually, we weren't looking to adopt." Robin answered. "We just saw him in the riot that happened at the cafeteria the other day and we were worried that he was hurt."

The Captain gasped, gesturing to Lucina's bandages. "Is that why you're hurt? Thank you guys so much for saving one of our kids. Roy, these guys are awesome!"

Roy blinked from the Captain's enthusiasm. "Yeah, of course."

After gently placing the clinging children on the ground, the Captain rushed to the office-like room and rummaged through the items. Lucina, Robin, and Roy stood around the entrance, shifting their weight and scanning the room as the Captain continued to dig for whatever he was trying to find.

"He's Captain Falcon." Roy started. "Kind of like a founder of this place after he lost his job in the entertainment business, racing cars. You guys ever seen a car?"

"I know they're transportation machines with engines and wheels, but I've never seen one." Robin replied.

"Yeah, he's older than he acts. But I guess it was a big gig at the time since he used his retirement money to build this place. He has good friends named Fox and Falco that helped him finance this place too. They both lost jobs under similar circumstances so they had that 'extra money' also. Although I think neither of them drove cars… You guys might see them the next time you come by."

"Are there more workers here?" Lucina asked.

"Obviously. I can't handle the kids and Captain by myself. Fox and Falco help out too, and there's another guy but he's off today." Roy laughed, eyeing Captain Falcon as he finally surfaced from the office.

In his hands were two devices that Lucina recognized.

"I want you guys to keep in touch with us and the shy guy. You can use your own channels too and communicate with each other." Captain Falcon placed a transceiver in both of their hands.

A small part of her didn't want to accept it out of courtesy but she was planning to buy one with her upcoming paychecks. And after these past couple of days, she needed the comfort of always being able to communicate with Robin or her father.

"But I don't have anything to offer you." Lucina uttered.

She noticed she was staring down at the ground as Captain Falcon placed a warm hand on her shoulder. "You saved one of our boys risking your life. That is priceless compared to this gadget."

The Captain had a long scar across his forehead and down his eyebrow. Lucina could almost see the years he lived through in making the orphanage. Something about him reminded her of her father and commander. Friendly, but intimidating. The children's playful laughter numbed her senses.

"How did the boy come to this place?" Robin asked, which enlightened Lucina.

If Captain Falcon or Roy didn't know about the boy before the riot, then someone else had provided him with the antidote and told him to thank Lucina. Unless they were lying and wanted to provide Lucina and Robin with transceivers for some reason. If that was the case, then the device weighed like an explosive in Lucina's hands.

"He was a unique one." Captain Falcon began. "He came in here yesterday morning twiddling his fingers saying that a person with blue hair and a blue cape told him to come here. He said that person helped him and he wanted to say thanks back. Ah, everything makes sense now, since you helped the shy guy and you have the blue hair and cape! I'm so glad I got to match a face with the name now. Lucius, right?"

"Yes…" Lucina couldn't understand but felt Captain Falcon's genuine appreciation as he shook her hand vigorously.

After another beat of silence, Robin feigned looking at the clock and told Roy and Captain Falcon they had to leave. As the two waved to them and some of the children good-bye, Lucina scanned the room again, and then left the Society of Smiles as the boy was still nowhere to be found.

* * *

As soon as they reached the top of the stairs, Robin turned back to Lucina excitedly. He stammered like he was ready to let out an outburst, but seeing the open door to the orphanage, he pulled Lucina's hand until they turned one corner. Robin even checked their new transceivers to see if they were turned off before he started to talk.

He appeared as if he was trying his best to suppress his voice, which came out into something like a whisper and a shout. "I had my suspicions, but I'm sure now."

"A person with blue hair and a blue cape helped him." Lucina guessed.

"Precisely. The prince was said to have a blue cape!" He said, waiting for Lucina's response, but then frowned when she just kept her stern expression.

"Does he have blue hair too?"

The excitement seemed to evaporate off of Robin's shoulders. "Well, he was said to be dressed in blue so he _could_ have blue hair…"

"You have a black coat but white hair." Lucina deadpanned.

"I know I know… damn it, I thought I had it. Damn your objective thinking." Robin laughed and scratched his head.

"I don't mean to discourage you. I thought the answers would be in that place but it wasn't as clear as I thought so… I want to get my facts straight."

"I know. We are making one step at a time though. We now know where the boy is and I think we can trust the caregivers, but what do you think?"

Lucina couldn't completely discard the possibility that this was still a trap of some sort. The Society of Smiles seemed so genuine and innocent but that made her even more suspicious. If they had visited the orphanage before Lucina's abrupt meeting with the Guerrillas, she might have trusted them. But after knowing there were skilled kids capable of terrible antics, nothing seemed genuine anymore.

So, she let Robin know of her honest response: "I'm not sure."

Five days passed by without notable events.

Lucina kept her routine of going to the station, training, coming home and tending to her father, and going to sleep. She did add one more thing to her schedule of stopping by the potion shop to say hi to Dr. Mario and have Robin tend to her wounds before she went to work. She did meet the one other worker, Lucario, who was a non-human species and was very reserved and calm. It was difficult to get a word out of him but Lucina caught him smiling while he ate a chocolate bar during his break.

The transceiver was left on Lucina's dresser, powered on, but unattended. One night, Lucina had a nightmare that the orphanage was in fact a trap and she was unable to escape the room full of crayon graffiti. Her anxiety worsened when Robin told her that the caregivers might be able to tap into their conversation if they synced their channels. Many times, she tried to turn the transceiver off, but every time she went for the switch, some thought stopped her from turning it off. It sat in her room like it had a pair of eyes.

On the fifth day, a week had passed since Robin had dropped off her father's medication. A familiar coded knock hit against the metal door that morning.

As Lucina opened the door, she put a finger to her lips. "He's sleeping."

Robin nodded and quietly stepped in. Her father was relaxed this morning but he's been spending more hours asleep. Lucina clipped pieces from the aloe planter sitting near the window as this week's payment and looked up through the glass. Thick black clouds tumbled through the square sky.

It hadn't rained for a week, a rare occasion but a pleasant surprise. When it rains, the water won't settle for a couple hours until it sinks through the cracks to the floors below. So for a good part of the day, the streets are filled with ankle-deep stagnant water. Plus the perpetual musty smell was nauseating and hard to get used to.

When it came time to take the medication, Lucina gently shook her father's arm to wake him up.

"Five more minutes." He slurred, but used his elbows to sit up in bed.

As he swallowed the pills, his eyes were mostly closed and was nodding off into his dreams. Still, Lucina peeled his eyelids to use the eye drops so the pink in his eyes will go away.

"What do you want for dinner tonight, Lucina?" Her father asked as she and Robin help him lie down again.

"I'll make something for us." She promised.

"Do you want the broth again? Because I can…" He trailed off as his head touched the pillow again. Lucina smiled, imagining her father dreaming that he was in the kitchen fixing some more soup.

An image of the boy running through the corridors appeared in her mind. How he sprinted through those streets, even outrunning Robin and her in the end. If the prince had in fact given the boy a strong antidote, a remedy that resuscitated a child dying from yellow phosphorus poisoning until he could run and play again, then why didn't that happen to her father? If the prince actually wanted to reach out to Lucina, wouldn't he want to help her to gain her trust?

Was his purpose different?

Snapping static made both Lucina and Robin jump out of their skin. From Lucina's room, a foreign voice was cutting in and out. Robin was lighter on his feet as he reached for the transceiver. He gestured Lucina, still blinking in surprise, to go to the kitchen. She pulled the blanket over her father's shoulders and stepped out of his room.

"Geez, that scared the crap out of me." He muttered. "I know you can make it so it's not as loud…"

" _Robin, Lucius? Say something, please._ " The voice said. The noise was still strong and they couldn't recognize who was talking but the words were just clear enough.

Robin squeezed the square "Talk" button and spoke into the metal netting. "This is Robin. Lucius is here next to me."

"H-Hi." Lucina greeted, clearing her throat when she realized her voice was faint.

" _Loud and clear. Please come by the Society of Smiles again. This is an emergency._ "

Lucina looked at Robin. For saying it was an emergency, the voice was surprisingly calm. Before he could say a response back, there was an abrupt sound that indicated the end of the transmission. Robin placed the device back into Lucina's hands.

"Do you have time before you go to the station?"

"Yes, it's still morning…" Lucina murmured. She placed her thumb on the off switch as if she was afraid that the static would start again.

Robin's tone was soft. "Do you want to go?"

The answer was right at the tip of her tongue. As her father tells her, the gut instinct is right for most situations. Hearing Robin's understanding tone made her want to lean toward the rational thought. Hesitate to take action. But as Robin said, every time she stepped out of her comfort zone, she learned more.

"Get your Levin Sword."

* * *

Without the boy's guidance, getting to the orphanage again was a bit of a trip. Lucina thanked Robin's remarkable retention. He said he only wants to visit the orphanage with the two of them together since they are a 'team', but he remembered the path straightaway. Even after five days, he didn't once stop to think of which street to take.

The upholstery factory facing the orphanage was still running. No chair was set up for the old man so it left the street even more lifeless. Beside the Royal Battalion stations, Lucina had never seen such an empty street.

As the two headed down the stairs to the Society of Smiles again, the red-haired worker, Roy, was at the entrance, pacing the area nervously. He seemed relieved seeing Lucina and Robin coming down the stairs, but his hand that welcomed them in felt more forced than comfort.

In Captain Falcon's hands was a small being wrapped in a blanket. A feeble pink arm stretched from the cloth and grabbed at the Captain's scarf. He had a sympathetic smile on his face as if Lucina should already know what the situation was. As one of the orphans bumped into the Captain, the being in his arms started to cry and throw its arms in the air.

"A baby…?" Lucina guessed.

"Look guys, I appreciate your concern for kids, but we can't really take care of a newborn." Captain Falcon chuckled.

"Where did you guys find him anyway?" Roy added.

Lucina's ears hummed from the laughter and screaming filling up the common room. The baby still wailed in Captain Falcon's arms but it felt as foreign and cold as the poisoned boy had when he cupped his face and sobbed.

"Come here." Robin called from the round table.

A woven cradle overflowing with new blankets was placed on the table. Her hand reached out to the cloth unconsciously and withdrew immediately when she felt the remnants of the baby's warmth. Robin was staring at a blue note, and at first, Lucina thought it was the note from the riot at the bakery, but this note was smaller.

As Robin gave her the note, she moved her thumb across the smooth blue sheet and familiar beautiful print. Lucina read the two lines over and over and over again, still couldn't believe the paper was a tangible item in her hands, applied pressure and wrinkled it slightly, and read it again:

" _New Arrival of a Baby Boy!_

 _Happy Parents, Lucina and Robin_ "

* * *

Author's Note: I was planning on uploading this on the 25th of last month but I only got to upload my other story. But Happy New Years! I'm always open for questions and stuff, but if not, I'll see you next chapter!


	4. It's Not Worth It

It's been years since Lucina saw her name spelled out on a piece of paper.

Although her father still calls her by her real name, ever since he recommended her joining the Royal Battalion, he stopped writing notes addressed to "Lucina". Nevertheless after he became sick he wrote less and less. But because of that, for the longest time Lucina thought that her father wanted a son instead of a daughter. After consulting with Robin and avoiding the puberty talk with her father, she understood it was for her protection. But her alias always felt like an ill-fitting mask.

A mask that, if she ever took it off, it would melt her face.

Without thinking, Lucina touched the nape of her neck, her fingertips making uneasy but brisk brushes. The bandages were intact. But the trauma on her head throbbed as she stared at the small blue note. No matter how much she read it over, the words did not change.

" _New Arrival of a Baby Boy!_

 _Happy Parents, Lucina and Robin_ "

Someone knows her real name. Even if it actually wasn't the prince, somebody knows and wants her to know that fact. And not only that, they know she's a girl disguising as a man.

The Guerrillas came into mind but Lucina quickly shook away that thought. They might know she's a girl but don't know her real name. Even if they know where she lives, it was practically impossible to eavesdrop into people's rooms because of the perpetual noise outside the apartment room. And the blue note and handwriting are very similar from the one at the riot. The Guerrillas are aware of the existence of the piece of paper but haven't gotten a close look at it.

"They're watching." Robin whispered.

Noise. Fluorescent light. Lucina looked up to remember she was at the orphanage. A boy with several missing teeth grinned when she met eyes with him. The caregivers still stared at her curiously and Lucina could only assume they wanted answers as well.

Captain Falcon frowned. "I know you guys said you weren't here to adopt… but I never thought you'd give up _your_ kid. Well, I'm sure you have your reasons."

"So, Lucina? Is that your real name? Are you actually the mother? Or did you find a baby? Or…" Roy kept asking, scratching his neck as if the questions were physically uncomfortable.

Lucina felt the blood drain from her face, and for the moment, the throbbing in her head stopped. Countless unrequited feelings chewed into her mind. Putting the mystery of the culprit actually being the prince aside, to think that he would personally seek her and force the responsibility of a newborn baby onto her, and have these strangers stare at her and accuse her as if she was a negligent mother was beyond uncomfortable.

The thought of being considered as a mother alone was unbearable.

Robin looped his arm around Lucina's and stood a step behind her. The closeness of her best friend was soothing but his stance was a bit odd. Feminine, to put in obtuse terms. He gave a quick but knowing look to Lucina before he proceeded to talk in a more "feminine" fashion.

"Don't you think we'd remember if I gave birth or not? Also, this note misspelled Lucius's name so I don't know why you'd accuse us of abandoning a baby."

"Wh-What are you doing?" Lucina sputtered, but Robin ignored her and placed his head on her shoulder lovingly.

Captain Falcon's shoulders scrunched up. "Oh. Were you… expecting? Are you two married, first of all? Is this getting too personal?"

"You said this was an emergency." Robin pressed. "Lucius had the morning off to rest before work. As you can see, he's not fully recovered from his wounds yet from trying to save one of your orphans from the riot."

Roy's eyes scanned from Lucina to Robin, stifling a laughter but covered his mouth. "Wait, so Robin is the girl in this relationship?"

Lucina felt her face catch on fire and turned to Robin for help. She saw him bite his lips before he spoke again, still going on with the act.

"That's none of your business. I thought Captain Falcon said you don't care any sexual orientation." He sighed.

Captain Falcon spoke up proudly, "Yeah, no matter what the relationship is, you two are together, and that's all we need to know. Right, Roy?"

Roy shrugged. "I guess. ...Sorry, I didn't mean to make you guys uncomfortable."

"Thank you." Robin smiled, taking his head off of Lucina's shoulder. "Someone must have pulled a prank on us but at least they could have spelled Lucius's name right. I'll look around places that can take care of newborns."

"Oh, thanks. That helps." Captain Falcon wiped an imaginary sweat from his forehead.

No words would form in Lucina's head as Robin tugged on her arm lightly for them to leave. The baby still cried in Captain Falcon's arms and by now, a couple of curious orphans gathered around him to get a glimpse of the smaller human.

* * *

Robin's tug on her arm became more forceful as they sped to the corner of the street. Their surrounding were as quiet and empty as they first arrived. The caregivers didn't seem to want to stop them or follow them as they left, but Robin didn't speak another word until the two of them were out of the factory district.

"Okay, recap." Robin clapped his hands together. His cheeks were flushed with excitement but his expression appeared concerned.

"Thanks." Lucina managed.

"No problem, and I'm so sorry. I don't know why my escape plan of posing as a gay couple seemed like a logical idea but they took it. Also I can't believe Roy would say that I'm the 'girl in the relationship', like that's so rude. That's like asking two chopsticks which one is the fork."

Lucina found herself smiling from Robin's rambling, giving her scope to think more calmly on the situation.

The two of them sat near a set of metal stairs. First signs of thunder shook the cables hanging from the ceiling, making the orange lights flutter. The cafeteria was around the corner and the noise has died down since they left, but they stayed since the stairs were more comfortable.

"Do you have the note?" She asked.

"I do. And look what else I found." Robin opened his coat, revealing the note from the crib and a strange moldy mass.

At first, Lucina pulled away in disgust but mustered the courage to look closer at the stuff. The blue-green mold masked the identity of it but upon seeing the yellow spots, Lucina met eyes with Robin.

"It's old but it's one of those poisoned rolls." Robin confirmed. "I found it underneath the blankets. So with this plus the blue note, wherever that baby came from, I think he has a direct connection with Prince Marth."

"Or whoever has been wanting to get in contact with us." Lucina added.

"That… is also true. We don't actually know if it's the prince yet. But you did say the owner of this nice paper and handwriting is no ordinary person."

Lucina pursed her lips for a moment to take in the situation.

"He knows my real name."

A bitter silence lingered, surrounding the two of them like a stranger listening in on their conversation. Being born and raised in the Citadel, a walled city of perpetual motion where in every corner there will be five strangers, nothing was truly anonymous. If one digs far enough, you can learn almost anything about a person. But living everyday life on scraps, no one was interested in another person usually other than their possessions that they could take.

But supposedly Prince Marth is living above everybody else, and for whatever reason is interested in messing with someone just trying to survive.

"I thought he was a myth." Lucina muttered.

Robin shifted his weight. "You don't seem as, um, upset. This is a weird way to phrase it, but I thought this note would have had a bigger impact on you."

Lucina looked down into her hands. Her wrist that she cut when she escaped from the Guerrillas has predominantly healed, save the pink line that was sensitive when she rubbed it.

Looking deep into herself, the prince knowing her name was disturbing but that wasn't the main point. First it was the riot, then the poisoned boy being healed, the kidnapping, and then the newborn baby. In each case, Lucina was somewhat held responsible when she didn't have a hand in any of them.

The incessant pursuit; the prince's borderline obsession with Lucina was what felt so odd. Because despite having unlimited resources, notoriety as an extremist leader, as well as unanimous respect as a hero, why did _he_ want her?

"Sorry." Robin laughed. "I'm shoving this situation in your face like I don't have anything to do with this."

"No, I was just thinking."

"That's alright. If anything, I'd be careful of Roy for now."

Lucina knitted her eyebrows. "Why is that?"

"He saw me grabbing the roll but he looked away from me. I don't know, it was a weird moment but I think he looked away on purpose."

When Lucina kept quiet on his observation, Robin shook his head and extended his arm for her to stand up.

"Let's go back to the shop and get you patched up before work. I'll keep the note for now."

* * *

As they headed back to the potion shop, a week's absence of rain started to pour from the cracks in the ceiling. Spouts of water struck against the grimy floor. There was nothing to do to shield themselves from the gray water, but Lucina held her sword against her body and Robin hid his bag in his coat.

Many of the residents took refuge in the more covered areas but the ones that needed to traverse the streets muttered to themselves and walked slightly faster, as did Lucina and Robin. It was a rather quick trip from the orphanage to the shop again.

In the street in front of the shop, Lucario and another man were squatting around a funnel to catch and filter the rain water. Lucario noticed first and nodded to the two approaching them. The other man shared a resemblance with Mario but had a rather friendlier face.

"Long time no see, Luigi." Robin greeted.

"Hi Robin!" Luigi piped up and shook Lucina's hand. "Hello Lucius, I'm Mario's brother, Luigi. So nice to finally meet you."

"You know me?" Lucina asked, blinking from the immediate generosity.

"Oh yes! Mario talks so fondly of you these days since he finally met another friendly face that isn't Robin and Lucario, haha!"

Robin chuckled, "He thinks I have a friendly face? He does love me."

"You give him too much credit, bro!" Mario swung the door open to the shop. The bells placed on the frame jingled raucously. "You're late. And don't say because we don't have customers. Your regular is here already."

"Oops."

Robin stepped into the shop, apologizing to the customer inside. He looked back at Lucina and gestured her to come in but she was hesitant to go inside.

The regular customer was a young boy. He had a shy disposition about him when he found Robin with his laced fingers and restless legs, but his curled yellow-blonde hair spoke otherwise. The ducktail and hair color was a rare style and Lucina could have sworn she'd seen him before.

"Lucas is a good friend of Robin. Ah, Mario would say he's a 'regular' but it's so rare that we get nice customers that actually want to talk to us." Luigi explained.

"Lucas." Lucina said. That name also sounded familiar.

"Yes. He says his friends play roughhouse and get hurt all the time so he's the 'nurse' of the group. I've never been outside the Outer Rim so I guess they don't have a shop like this in the Midst."

As soon as Luigi said 'Midst', Lucas looked up and met eyes with Lucina, horror filling his big pupils. Unfortunately, upon seeing the boy's terrified expression, Lucina remembered where she had met him. She could feel her wrist ache and her head throb; the boy was there when she had escaped from the Guerrillas' hideout. He had an armful of bandages and bottles when he tended to her while she was knocked out.

Lucina stepped into the shop. "Lucas?"

The boy was speechless, frozen in place like stone. He had already bought a couple of bandage rolls so he clutched onto him. Robin came back with a couple bottles of antibiotics and rubbing alcohol and handed them to Lucas but the boy was still stunned.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Robin asked. He even kneeled to Lucas but no words came out his gaping mouth.

Lucina followed her friend's example and squatted in front of the boy. "Thank you for tending to me."

"Please," Lucas finally let out a sound.

A twinge of pain plagued Lucina's heart seeing tears build up in the boy's eyes. Robin stared back and forth from his friend to his regular customer, as if he was doing his best to understand the situation but observation alone was fruitless. There were no other feelings resembling fear in Lucina anymore but guilt as she had to look away from Lucas and met eyes with a confused Robin.

"Don't hurt me." The boy sobbed.

Robin frowned, a dash of red coloring the corner of his eyes like he was going to cry also. He rubbed Lucas's back in soft, small circles. "Nobody here is going to hurt you, buddy. Lucius a nice guy."

Lucina leaned over, whispering into Robin's ear, "He's a member of the Guerrillas."

"What?" He exclaimed, but in a whisper for Lucas's sake.

The boy had his head down, sobbing into the new bandages. One fell to the floor, rolling away from him but he was planted in his spot. Lucina felt Robin's incredulous stare pierce into her, and as much as she didn't want this unassuming boy to be a member of a group that assaulted and kidnapped her, she wanted to be certain.

"You tended to my wounds, right? You were the only nice one in your group and I want to thank you if you are the one."

Lucas peered through the bandages. His line of sight was somewhere around Lucina's chin but he nodded in approval. Robin's hand stopped for a moment in surprise, but he resumed patting his back. He shared worried looks with Lucina, so she carefully picked her words.

"Thank you, Lucas." Lucina said. "I will never hurt you, as long as your friends don't hurt me and my friends."

Nothing occupied the quiet shop except for Lucas's sniffles and hiccups. Mario had stepped out to tend to Luigi and Lucario's water collecting and their playful banter felt inviting. Even the pouring dirty water outside the shop was more comforting to listen to than Lucas's sobs.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Lucas finally spoke through his cracked voice.

"We… Bowser Jr. thought that Prince Marth started the riot and he had his allies to look over it. We saw you two there during the riot and then when you picked up the note so we thought you two were the prince's allies. The Family is super strong but Bowser Jr. said if we work together, we could take one person down. But I didn't, I didn't want to…" Lucas trailed off.

Lucina nodded. "Thank you. But I thought your leader admired the Family. Why did he want to kidnap one of us? Wouldn't that have angered the prince if we were indeed his allies?"

"We have a list of the Family members and you two weren't in the book so… we thought Prince Marth was recruiting new people and Bowser Jr. wanted to know if that was true or not."

Robin joined in. "You have a list of old Family members?"

Lucas clasped his mouth with one hand, bandage rolls tumbling out of his arms and bouncing off the floor. Robin instinctively caught a couple of them from rolling away but he kept his surprised eyes fixed onto his customer.

"Oh, gee, sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you, but is that true?"

The boy froze again. Now he stepped away from Robin as well.

"I'm assuming that was supposed to be a secret." Lucina whispered.

He shook his head but his frantic state made it obvious that the book was supposed to be a contained secret. Robin looked back and forth from Lucina and Lucas, words lost from his mouth. Somehow, Lucina found the moment to cover her smile when she noticed this was a complete role reversal from what just happened at the orphanage. Now it was Lucina's turn to take the best out of this situation.

"You didn't do anything wrong. As I said, I have no intentions of hurting you or keeping you from coming here. You're a customer here."

Lucas nodded briskly.

"But your friends did hurt me, physically and emotionally. I hope you understand that I don't agree with how they handled Robin and I."

Lucas mumbled through his hand, "I understand."

"And I hope you understand that if you or your friends try to hurt me or my loved ones again, I will fight back."

"I understand." Lucas replied with a clearer voice. There was a different resolve in his big eyes now, so he wiped his tears away and finally looked at Lucina.

Something about Lucas's eyes made it hard to concentrate on them. His pupils were dark but it reminded Lucina of the sky through her window, and also the flowers that bloom from the sunlight. He wore a striped shirt and denim shorts like Ness but their personalities were polar opposites. It made Lucina wonder why Lucas would be associated with the Guerrillas.

"I'll talk to Bowser Jr. and the others." Lucas spoke again, clearing his throat when his voice squeaked from crying. "If, um, Robin and you want to know more about the Family, maybe we can work together?"

Lucas's offer struck Lucina off guard. Her immediate response was no, and then she remembered what she said to Bowser Jr. as she escaped from their hideout.

 _I wish I could help you_ , she recalled.

"I appreciate your offer. But talk to your teammates first."

Lucas left with a bag full of supplies, waving back at Lucina and Robin, and the other employees of the potion shop as they collected enough clean water to bring back in. As they watched the blonde boy disappear into the dark, pouring street, Lucina anticipated Robin's excited response.

"This just keeps getting more and more interesting."

"What do you think?" Lucina asked, vaguely on purpose.

"Cooperating with the Guerrillas? I think that's a decision you make, since they kidnapped you. I just had a kid with a windsock hat threaten me to talk into a transceiver."

Behind them, Luigi was arguing with Mario on how to ration the clean water they just collected. Lucario was unfazed and was already carrying the next funnel to place outside.

Lucina lowered her voice. "Do you trust Lucas?"

"I do. He's been my customer for about a year now." Robin explained. "I actually let him stay over at my room once when he said he had a fight between his friends and he didn't want to go back to them. I've never seen him so upset before so I let him stay for a couple days."

"Well, I don't blame him. His leader is overbearing and another of his teammates is heartless." Lucina grumbled.

Robin smiled supportively. "He comes to the shop once a week, so I guess we'll have to wait until he comes back."

"I guess so."

* * *

Remembering to go to work was perhaps, for Lucina, the most draining part of the long morning. Robin apologized for not being able to change her bandages in time but Lucina thanked him. Her wounds were well tended and healing nicely so what she actually worried about was how to cover her hair after her head fully recovered.

There was a supply shop on the way to the watering station, but knowing today's rain, many people would be in that area to get some bottles of new clean water. Plus the owner there had lost vision after a terrible accident with an exposed cable so the shop might be closed.

Robin did tell her of a new shop that opened recently by the name of "The Gates of Hell" that sells supplies, but to her, the name sounded like a delinquent group she heard about during her trainee days in the Royal Battalion.

Surprisingly, the afternoon passed by in a blink. Again, there was no threat to the Royals today as it has been for the past fifteen years so Lucina spent her time in the practice arena. She sliced the torso of the dummy and noticed she was famished. There was a small cafeteria for guards and usually Lucina ignored the place to avoid contact with her companions, but the inviting smell from down the hall was especially attractive tonight. Patting her newly deposited pockets, she felt adventurous. Plus, after that long morning, she deserved a plateful of something.

There weren't many that were interested in teasing her as Lucina stepped in the room. It was almost the end of her shift, so at this time, there were some stragglers loitering around with dirty plates stacked on their tables. However her commander was there flipping through pages of a book as he sat and ate, and once he saw Lucina, his whole face brightened to meet her.

"I thought you didn't like cafeterias." Ganondorf chuckled.

"I, um, was hungry, sir." Lucina stuttered, feeling her cheeks burn. A couple of the guards threw looks at Lucina but minded their business.

"Well, we all need to eat at least three times a day."

Lucina feigned a laugh as she bought a sandwich with cheese melting from the side. It didn't cost as much as she expected and the first bite she took was scrumptious so Lucina made a mental note to visit here more often. The cheese and wheat were manmade, but after weeks of drinking chicken broth, biting down on something was very satisfying.

At first, Lucina wanted to step outside to eat in the balcony, but seeing the expectant look on her commander's face and the empty seat in front of him, Lucina reluctantly sat down. Granted it was much better than a roomful of passive-aggressive companions and seniors, eating in front of her commander was just a bit embarrassing.

"Training is good, but eating is a very important factor in building a strong body." Ganondorf nodded.

In the center of the undivided attention, Lucina forgot to chew. She swallowed her bite and asked, "What do you eat, sir?"

"Let's see, I eat just about everything. I actually need to hold back because I don't have the metabolism I used to. My companions say I gained weight since…" Ganondorf trailed off.

"Commander?"

"Never mind." He shook his head. "But I have gained weight so do you want to train a bit more afterwards? I'll teach you how to counter an opponent's moves."

There was a genuine smile on Lucina's face as she heard the offer.

"Yes, thank you sir."

Training one-on-one with her commander was a somewhat enjoyable occasion. Lucina considered swordplay as a hobby more than an obligation, but she never undermined the art of fighting with a sword. As much as it was a hobby and a profession, it was what kept her going in her trainee days.

During the long curriculum, Lucina did have a chance to choose between a weapon and a firearm. A firearm was considerably more popular than an old fashioned sword because of its ease of use, and distance from the enemy. But because of how expensive bullets are, as long as one remains a trainee or low level guard, you only get to practice with plastic pellets.

Lucina practiced with the plastic pellets as a back-up plan, but when it became time to be promoted to a guard, she didn't hesitate to choose the sword as her profession. And although weapons were less popular, her commander is a sword guard and three of the elite Four Wings commanders are said to be sword guards so Lucina had a hint of pride to hold her Falchion.

So, since the other guards practice in the range, the arena was usually an empty room when Lucina isn't using it. And when Ganondorf helps her train, it was usually a one-on-one session.

"To counter is a defensive stance." Ganondorf started. "When your opponent has the upper hand or is faster than you, at times it is safer to make them take the first move. Rather than trying to match their speed, you end up fatigued and they get the last blow. Use their skills to your advantage."

Ganondorf unsheathed his slender white blade. The decorated sword seemed unfitting to the commander's demeanor and appearance, but once Lucina saw him wield it, she knew it was his sword. She appreciated the contrast between him and the sword, as she wielded a blade that was too big for her frame.

"You can dodge or catch the blade before you counter. Both are used in different situations, but in general, dodging is easier than thinking of how to catch the incoming blade." He continued.

Lucina tried a couple of stances on countering, and despite her commander's lecture, she found parrying to be easier than dodging. A part of it was that the blades hitting and sliding against each other gave her a sense of direction on how she should move.

After a couple rounds, her commander proposed to continue training tomorrow. It was already a couple minutes after her shift so Lucina thanked her commander for the training and left the station quickly. As usual, Robin was waiting for her outside the steel doors. He tilted his head with an amused look on his face and before Lucina could ask if she had something stuck between her teeth from the previous sandwich, he said for once she looked happy after her shift. True, she was content, but something about how he phrased "for once" made her stop to think of why she felt that way.

* * *

On her day off a couple days later, Lucina found her injuries healed to the point where the bandages weren't needed anymore. The circlet that has been neglected on the dresser claimed its rightful place on her head again; a simple decorated piece given to her from the Royal Battalion as part of the outfit. It was more of a metal headband but it kept the long hair behind her ears so it does a job more than a decoration.

The supply shop near the watering station was abandoned. The cleaners weren't there yet so a couple men were still rummaging the floors for leftover supplies. Lucina turned her heels. Her curiosity wasn't enough to investigate why three men would be hunting through a toiletry supply shop, and what happened to the friendly owner. She might not be friendly anymore since she lost her vision from an accident, but Lucina remembered she appreciated the importance of being clean.

Electric static whispered from her belt. Robin and Lucina decided to try using the transceivers to communicate to each other, and has been proved useful.

Since the event with the newborn baby, Robin had been looking around hospitals to see if they'll accept newborns; and secretly investigating to see which ones had babies kidnapped to find links back to the prince. There was little progress, but also since then, the Society of Smiles was silent.

" _Are you there yet?_ " Robin asked through the speaker.

Lucina leaned against the wall and pressed the "Talk" button as she brought the device to her mouth. "It's abandoned. Recently, I think. The cleaners aren't here yet."

" _Bummer. Well, let's try and find that new supply shop together then. My shift is over soon so I'll let you know._ "

"Thanks."

Robin cut the transmission first. The transceiver provided immense amounts of relief knowing she could talk to Robin at any time but there was a certain uneasiness that she couldn't wipe away. Although Robin and his co-workers found a different channel for the two of them to communicate on, the thought that the caregivers at the Society of Smiles could listen to their conversation was disconcerting. Lucina feels that Robin doesn't trust the caregivers also, since even when she's in the apartment room, he still refers to her as "Lucius" over the transmissions.

The first couple of times they tried the transceivers was from her apartment room to the potion shop. Lucario was the one who found the channel for them to talk through so he did the honors of saying the first word: "um".

Lucina smiled, remembering how Lucario mumbled and laughter followed behind him, most likely from Mario and Robin.

"You have a lovely voice."

The settling rain masked the woman sitting on the floor. Even from the dim orange lights, Lucina could see that she was malnourished and was painted in a ghoulish shade of white. Pale skin wasn't uncommon but the fact that she would only wear an oversized cotton shirt in the rain was impractical. Also letting her long, wet hair down to one side was as if she was screaming into the streets that she was a woman.

Minutes passed in silence but the woman still stared at Lucina directly in her eyes. She was young but distressed, to say the least. Her hands were knitted together and hugging her knees. Judging her small, bony legs, she needed help to stand up. But her gaze was so intense, Lucina had resorted to revealing the hilt of the Falchion to let the woman on the floor know that she was armed.

The woman didn't blink, or even let her eyes waver from Lucina's.

"Have a good time with me."

When she lifted her cheeks, Lucina knew why the woman didn't flinch. As another minute passed, the woman became adventurous and stretched out her arm. Lucina stepped back, and let the blade slide against the sheath to let the woman hear the weapon instead. She immediately recoiled her arm and fumbled with the door knob that was behind her. With not much headway into opening the door, Lucina sheathed the Falchion again in an attempt to calm her down.

"Thank you for selling me the hair pins." Lucina said, turning away from the street.

The fumbling with the fingernails clicking against the door knob stopped, but Lucina didn't have the courage to look back at the former supply shop owner.

* * *

When Robin's shift ended, Lucina suggested that they go back to the apartment room for a while. As the two retreated into the kitchen, Chrom was still sound asleep from his medication starting to work again.

Thunderclouds still rolled by through the window above. Five plates were placed throughout the apartment room to catch the dripping rain, and while some were getting close to full, Lucina couldn't muster the motivation to funnel it into usable water. Robin and her spent a couple minutes in peace, sitting across from each other in the small table.

"You could use paper clips for your hair." Robin suggested.

Lucina managed to smile. A couple years ago when she lost a hair pin the night before she applied for the Royal Battalion, Robin gave her a couple of paper clips as a substitute. But no matter how hard she tried to twist and pin in the stray strand, it kept falling down, and somehow that was hilarious to the two of them.

"Made you laugh."

"Thanks."

With a smile on her face now, she let the thought of the supply shop owner aside. It was a rather abstract thought on gender, and while no talk was too uncomfortable or awkward with Robin, his gender is male. There was a possibility that he wouldn't understand what it feels to have no other options than to sell your own body. Although he did defend her at the orphanage when the note implied that Lucina was the mother of the unknown baby. The ultimate purpose was to take the load off for both of them but he reiterated that Lucina was "Lucius" to them.

"Any progress with finding the prince?" Lucina asked.

Robin shook his head. "Not much. I've looked through most clinics and hospitals in the Outer Rim now. I've been told by several of them that nobody will willingly steal a newborn."

"Well, it didn't come from thin air."

"Yes, so," he continued, "That baby might be from below like the Midst or the Core, kind of depending on how far Prince Marth is willing to travel from there to the orphanage."

Lucas came into mind. He hasn't come back to pick up more supplies yet, but it has been a week since he came by and told them he'd like to cooperate to find the Family. Lucina had been thinking about the pros and cons of working with the kids. While both parties had their own key collateral: Lucina and Robin with their notes from the fabled prince and the Guerrillas with their supposed intellect and list of old Family members, the rough first impression was an obstacle.

"It's too late today, but maybe tomorrow I'll go to the Midst and look around some hospitals there. I bet the people there have more information about the prince too since the Midst is—"

"What if the Guerrillas see you?" Lucina interrupted.

Robin blinked. "I'm sure Lucas will explain that I'm no harm to them. We might collaborate so it's no use trying to kidnap me. And besides, you told the leader that you handed the notes to the Royal Battalion, right? If anything we should be the ones doing the negotiating."

"We… we're a team." She muttered. Admittedly, the word was just a touch embarrassing.

But it seemed to open Robin's eyes. "Oh grief, there goes my subjective thinking again. We're a team! Okay, let's go on your next day off. We can be each other's bodyguards then."

Lucina nodded. She had a feeling Lucas can be trusted, but in case he wasn't able to convince his friends, at least she'll be there to let the Guerrillas know that what she told Lucas was not to be taken lightly.

* * *

More days passed with little progress. Lucas hadn't come in nearly two weeks, making Robin concerned. But they weren't about to storm into their hideout looking for the boy just yet.

As with the hair pins, Mario volunteered to be a guide to "The Gates of Hell", but refused to enter the shop as it gave him the "heebie-jeebies" the last time he passed by it. Robin teased him for being a "scaredy-cat" and Mario bet him a day's shift that he'll be as terrified of the place as he was. So today, Lucina used her metal circlet and strands of bandages to keep her hair short but inconspicuous enough so it doesn't appear as injured as she had before.

Her commander no longer worried about her injuries and in these past couple of days, he pressed her hard on practicing on counters.

"A little late that time." Ganondorf remarked. "Your feet are fumbling to catch up to your upper body movement. Observant adversaries will swipe your feet and then take the kill."

"Yes, sir." Lucina breathed.

But the Falchion weighed down, scraping against the floor. Lucina felt her cheeks burn and lifted the sword tip. Her commander sighed.

"Take a break."

Her arm trembled as she sheathed the Falchion. As soon as she sat in the benches, Ganondorf sheathed his decorated white sword and turned away to talk into his transceiver. His usual supportive and beaming self seemed detached today as he was invested in the conversation with the other person on the line. He looked back at Lucina once, nodded with a put-on smile and walked out of the arena. Ringing silence and the fluorescent light showering down on her exposed her heavy breathing and pink fingertips.

The arena was usually quiet, but today, the hallways were quiet as well. There was still a couple hours left in her shift and the silence made time drag on. Especially with how she was performing today, all Lucina could think about was how she wanted to sink into her bed.

There were days like this back in her trainee days. Although her father trained her well, she noticed how easy he was going with her with duration and letting her rest when she started to get tired. He was more invested with the art, whereas Ganondorf trained her in actual combat.

Lucina shook her head. Of course her father would be easier on her. Back in those days, it was a hobby to do in the off hours. Now that she's a guard, she gets paid to protect the Royals. While she has never seen the Royals, it was her profession to hone her skills in case of an assault. It just doesn't seem likely since there hasn't been an attack on them in fifteen years. The Family has been quiet after their leader was injured, likely killed.

Until there was a riot at the bakery.

The glass door opened again.

A young man with blue armor stepped into the arena and found Lucina with a smile. She stared at the man absently, not really registering anything but staring at his cape and ribbons as he walked up to her. There was a sword with a golden hilt tied behind him at his waist that was a bit hidden from his deep blue-purple cape.

He stepped up, a little too close for comfort. A shadow cast around Lucina so she instinctively shifted in her seat to give more space. The man stepped back, bowing apologetically but then shifted in the same direction so he stood in front of her again. He still smiled, still saying nothing, as if he waited for Lucina to initiate the conversation.

"Can I help you?" Lucina questioned, putting some force in her tone.

The man took a deep breath and answered. "Hello, Lucina. Do you remember me?"

She blinked. Hundreds of thoughts and memories raced through her head as she felt the man observing her reaction carefully. Lucina noticed she was pressing herself against the wall but she strained her eyes onto the swordsman who knows her. She finally noticed the one distinct detail about him: the red hair. A very uncommon color that she has definitely seen before.

It took a couple moments to recall the caregiver. The friendly but age-appropriate frankness he displayed at the Society of Smiles was nothing like the swordsman in armor and cape before her. He looked proud, regal, almost like a commander of a Royal Battalion station. He could be, but then it didn't make sense why he would work at an orphanage.

"Roy."

He nodded. "You didn't give birth to the baby after all. Neither did Robin, but I'm assuming he's a guy."

"How did you get in here." Lucina interjected as she shot up.

Roy tilted his head. "Was that a question, or an order?"

The arena was like a foreign place. The surrounding walls closed in on Lucina as she could not see how this exchange would end. A caregiver from an orphanage is in a suit of armor with a sword strapped to his belt. The Royal Battalion stations are protected with steel doors that automatically lock when they close again. Despite the quietness tonight, there were eyes and ears that should have recognized a swordsman with red hair that was walking up to the arena. Somehow, Roy caught her alone.

"How did you get in here." She asked again.

"If I tell you, will you help me?"

Something about Roy's tone made him sound like he was trying to reach out to Lucina. But if he was, he didn't need the weapon or the armor nor did he need to show up at her station. There was a reason he needed to show up here armed.

"I believe you." Roy continued. "You weren't the one who helped the boy and you're not the mother of the baby, and you're confused. I want to know the answers too."

Lucina shook her head. It took all her willpower to not grab the hilt of her sword.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"But I am right. I saw Robin take that note from the crib." He urged. "You two are trying to find Marth because Marth is trying to talk to you. Or else you wouldn't have taken the note. And you wouldn't have asked about the boy whom Marth saved."

Lucina noticed how Roy talked about the prince as if he was a close friend. And how informed he was of her and Robin's investigation, but with more certainty that it is the prince's actions.

"Answer my question." Lucina demanded, her palm brushing against the sheath.

Roy stepped back, pursing his lips. "You think the Royal Battalion and the Royals have state-of-the-art protection but there are holes. Especially since they let some of us be guards and commanders of said army.

"You've never even seen the Royals before. Why do you protect them? Does the paycheck keep you happy or the fact that you can swing a sword around? Because the Family isn't going to attack today, since we've been quiet for the past fifteen years?"

One detail stuck out to Lucina and she wished she hadn't caught it.

"What do you mean by 'we'?"

There was only a hint of surprise in Roy's expression before he smiled again. "Good, you're attentive. Maybe that's why Marth likes you."

The looming presence of death paced through her mind. Roy was, or is still, a member of the Family, the extremist group who wants to destroy the Citadel. Her profession is to protect the Royals from his group, and he already made it inside a station. Her recommended response is to unsheathe her sword and try to kill him but she was frozen over.

Despite Lucina's lack of response, Roy continued. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm asking for your help. Marth has been living as a hermit since he's been injured fifteen years ago. We tried looking all over the Citadel for any sign of him. And a couple weeks ago, he made a public appearance at a bakery in the Outer Rim and started a riot. He left a note there but you picked it up. Since then, you have a connection with Marth and I have no idea why."

Lucina's throat stuck together. How she wanted nothing more than to be in the apartment room and listen to her father sleep, or be at the potion shop with Robin and his co-workers and listen to them talk and laugh, or running to her commander for help, or even looking for Lucas and seeking refuge. Anywhere but here.

"I shouldn't help you." She managed.

"Join us. Robin as well. We can find Marth together."

"I can't."

"There must be a reason why you're pursuing Marth and why he's trying to reach out to you. I just want answers."

"I can't help."

"Then your family must know him. Your father or your mother."

Lucina felt an intangible string cut off from her. Once Roy mentioned her father, it was something she couldn't afford to gamble with.

"You will not talk to him."

In one habituated stroke, the blade strapped behind Roy unsheathed; the double-edged blade glimmering under the fluorescent lights. Lucina clutched her Falchion now, but it didn't provide much relief as she hoped.

"You do have a father." Roy reiterated. "That does bring back some memories. Have you talked about your investigation with him?"

"You will not talk to him." Lucina also repeated.

"Lucina." Roy lowered his voice. "Please don't make me kill you."

Lucina noticed, having a person in close proximity that has the intention and capability of killing her was the most terrifying experience she has faced. Even being disarmed and strapped to a pole, she was able to worry about Robin and her father facing danger. In the back of her mind she did undermine the Guerrillas' capability of killing her.

But after knowing Roy was a member of the Family and seeing his sword, all Lucina could think of was how that double-edged blade could slice her in half and take away everything she held onto for all the years she's been alive. A single swipe of that metal and everything will be over.

In this moment of him sparing her, she forced the 'no's in her head to be logical explanations: why didn't she want this, what action leads to the worst and best possible solution. If she let Roy go, he'll confront her father and Robin. If she dies, he'll still confront them, but she died trying to prevent that. If she lives, she has another chance. If she can stop Roy or even kill him, they're safe in the immediate future.

"You," Lucina took a shuddering breath from her stomach, "Talk to my father after you cross over my dead body."

Roy chewed on his lips. Since he announced his threat, he hasn't taken his eyes off of Lucina and she as well.

"I understand you're a guard and you need to protect your loved ones. But this is not worth risking your life."

"I didn't wanted to be involved in this."

"You were _in this_ since you were born!" Roy stomped his foot and roared, his last word echoing through the empty hall and resonating in Lucina's very being.

Her adversary looked down at his sword. Thick strands of red hair obscured his eyes, but he was biting his lips again. The birdlike golden hilt shone brilliantly from the dim lighting in the station. Even from a distance, Lucina could tell the sword was well tended by its wielder, but who knows how many it has killed and tainted its blade in the years its been in Roy's hands.

"Lucina, I just want to find my friend. I'm not going to hurt you, Robin, or your father, I swear on my soul."

 _Then why did you show your blade to me,_ Lucina thought.

She thought of Lucas and compared him to Roy. Lucas could have skills fit for a vigilante group but from what Lucina had noticed, he's a young boy with a kind heart. The swordsman before her most likely has killed many guards and threatened to destroy the infrastructure of the Citadel. And most of all, he pleads to be innocent but also applying his skills by infiltrating a Royal Battalion station undetected and showing the intention to kill her if he doesn't get his way.

What might happen if she let him into the apartment room?

"Leave me alone." Lucina said, before any more thoughts passed through her head.

The wounded look in Roy's eyes tensed into a callous glare. He twisted his wrist slightly to hold the sword into a reverse grip, the blade now extending up against his arm. At first, Lucina thought he was going to sheathe his sword, but Roy took a step forward.

"Very well." Roy responded, smiling, but his tone was void of any empathy.

An outburst of yellow light engulfed Lucina's vision, making her stumble back. Her cloak hissed and before she knew what had happened, Lucina ripped off the cloth and threw it to the floor. Black smoke sizzled from the glowing spots. Her shoulder felt tender from the sudden heat but she reacted in time that she wasn't burnt. The hairs on the nape of her neck stood up and she almost lost her grip on her sword.

A strand of flame danced off Roy's blade. Like Robin's Levin Sword, Roy's was no ordinary blade. Lucina understood how the blade can remain so clean after years of cutting down people; the blade burns before it cuts.

"Then perish with this hellhole."

Lucina drew the Falchion out of its sheath and sliced the air from above as Roy cut from underneath again. Sparks flew, but Lucina gained the upper hand from the downward motion as Roy's blade recoiled back. She clenched her teeth from the metal hitting against each other. Roy perhaps suffered the most of the impact as his blade dragged against the floor for a second as he squeezed his elbow with his open hand.

While she relaxed her jaw to catch a breath, Lucina noticed the tense pain crawling up her arms. Whether it was her muscles reacting to the impact or the fear of having to face Roy, the Falchion felt heavy in her arms and the sword tip rattled against the tiled floor. Irritated by her own display, Lucina struck the tip to the ground.

She noticed her adversary was watching her intently, tilting his head with a smile as he seemed to enjoy seeing Lucina struggle. As Roy stepped closer, Lucina stepped to the side so she didn't hit against the wall. While the sword was in pristine condition, the lights revealed the scuffs and damages in Roy's armor over the years. The frayed ends of his cape wavered as he took more adventurous steps.

It was only then when Lucina began to wonder, how old Roy actually was.

A streak of red swept her feet. Lucina doubled over, gasping at the sight of her blood and building smoke as the flames were clenching her toes together. Before she could swat at her burning foot, an assertive hand shoved her shoulder first against the glass wall. The dull pain of hitting against the solid surface was nothing compared to the stinging exposed wound her left foot was suffering. And perhaps even more than the wound, her commander's warning stabbed into her soul: " _Observant adversaries will swipe your feet and then take the kill._ "

Panicked, Lucina clawed at Roy's arm holding her against the wall. She felt the skin break and blood trail down her palm but it only seemed to make the cold look in his eyes even more taciturn, much less make him let go of her.

The blades locked together in a tangled mess. No measure of pulling or pushing seemed to free her sword, and Lucina had a second to see that Roy had locked the hilts towards him; the only way to free the Falchion was either Lucina lets go of it or Roy twists and pulls back. She wasn't about to let go of her weapon so easily, but the heat radiating from Roy's blade enveloped her arm from the elbow up, consuming the surrounding air into blistering smoke. Lucina coughed, trying to take in small breaths but Roy seemed unfazed.

"You better get your foot treated quick." Roy said. "Your toes are burnt so they'll stick together and that won't help with your sword training."

Lucina noticed her entire left leg was shuddering, spitting blood onto the tiled floor. The smoke had dissipated so she could see her shoe and the wound was spread open like a red rose. Usually she paid little attention to her own body but the deep cut sorely reminded her she had five toes on her feet, whereby now a couple of them might be detached from her.

"You can't walk anymore. Face it, you're not going to stop me." He pressed.

He was sparing her again, after exercising his power over her. Would this fight had been in her advantage had she known Roy would use a fire-infused sword? Or if he used a regular blade? Or if he hadn't made the reason personal? She could think her reasons for failing but they were just excuses that Lucina couldn't win against him with sheer sword skills.

There was a heart-dropping snap from the glass wall behind them. When Lucina saw Roy's pupils dilate across his blue irises, there was a strangely satisfying feeling that spread across her chest. The flames from the sword were too much for the glass wall to handle. After all, they weren't meant to withstand fire. She saw the shadow of the deep fissure snake up the glass wall.

In the last moment to spare, Lucina grasped Roy's collar and shoved him back, their blades unlocking from the change in momentum. The two slipped in Lucina's blood and crashed onto the tiled floor as the glass wall crumbled down with earsplitting screeches.

Glass spread across the floor, reflecting the fluorescent light in serrated patterns. Sharper pieces dug into her skin through the clothes, igniting her entire body, but especially the knees and palms on fire-like pain as with her exposed left foot. She wanted to scream but her adversary below her beat her to it as he arched his back and let out a grating cry. Lucina was pressing Roy down into the glass covered ground.

He shoved her off, unable to hold in painful whines as he gripped his sword off the pile of glass shards. Lucina stood her ground, her breath seething through her teeth as she glared. Her adversary's next move was sloppy from the agony the glass caused him. The momentum of his swing carried the Falchion across, down to an area where the armor didn't protect him.

Roy made a watery gasp.

Lucina's eyes struck open as well when the sword penetrated through her adversary's back. Past his arm, she could see the tip of the Falchion shudder, and she noticed it was her hands that were shaking and digging around the lethal wound. Blood pooled down onto the glittering floor.

"…No, not yet."

The other sword clattered to the ground. As if the weapon was corresponding to its wielder's life, the fire burned out as well.

"I can't, Marth promised," Roy wheezed, then keeled over.

With a wet, brittle sound he slipped off and collapsed onto the floor. Lucina too was pulled by the momentum as the sword tip was still lodged inside. The pull almost made her fall over again but she stood her ground, her foot stepping right next to Roy's head. Needles caressed her tense shoulders. Stomach acid built up until it reached the roof of her mouth. She half expected her adversary to act dead since he looked so rested but the cavernous hole she made in his stomach confirmed he wouldn't move again. When she went to tug on her Falchion, the stomach lifted up, then settled gently again. Magenta-colored blood brimmed from the wound.

At last, she couldn't hold back anymore and liberally vomited on the floor. More, more thick liquid struck against the glass and tile. Pain stung, soaked, and smothered her from all directions. Everything hurt in a different way. Everything was red. Everything changed. Nothing was worth this outcome.

Minutes had past since the glass wall shattered to the floor. The other guards could be at another station today, but Lucina's commander should have heard the commotion. Still, no one came to the arena. Silence filled the station.

* * *

When Lucina noticed she could focus on something in her vision again, Robin was there, hands outstretched to her but shaking as if he was too afraid to touch her. The steel door closed behind her and to the left were the stairs that lead her home. She had her burnt cloak and blood-caked Falchion in her arms. Blood, whether hers or her adversary's, covered the blue uniform. Her vision oscillated from a blur of orange to Robin's terrified expression.

"What…" He trailed off.

"It's not worth it." Lucina nearly screamed, then clasping her mouth shut when she heard her sudden outburst.

Robin flinched, but he kept his eyes scanning her face. He shrugged off his coat and covered it on Lucina's shoulders. The shade and warmth was so comforting, Lucina's balance tipped, collapsing into Robin's arms and she began to bawl like a baby. Another layer of relief covered her as her friend no longer hesitated to embrace her back, despite being wet from the copious amounts of unknown blood.

"Shh, shh. Try to keep quiet." He hushed. "Let's go back to the shop and get you cleaned up, okay? Explain everything to me later."

Explain. A cold wave of fear soaked her feet. Lucina left the station and her shift wasn't over. Even more so, she fended off a Family member but didn't stop to check if he was actually dead. She left the arena in that chaos without reporting to her commander. But the steel door was locked. There was no way back in. And anyway, even if the door was wide open she couldn't gather herself to go back.

The walk home was quiet like the station. Lucina only noticed the ankle-deep rain as they pulled into the street to the potion shop. Murky water lapped against the doors and walls, splashing back up their knees. A trail of blood washed away from her uniform.

Most people would have the common sense to not be out in the rain for extended periods of time, so the loiterers that were outside now had their heads hung low and walked briskly back home. Thus the anonymity and cold water numbing her cuts and burns acted as a sedative. The shop itself was closed for the night but the faint, sweet smell it always emanates brought her back to the realm of reality again. Even the dull stench of the rain on top of that gave her a sense of relief.

"A couple more steps. You can do it." Robin encouraged her.

For a moment, thunder illuminated the area through the cracks in the ceiling. Several funnels were still placed outside to filter the rainwater but a tall figure struck out in the relatively quiet street. The being standing in front of the potion shop confirmed Lucina's other suspicion, though she prayed she didn't have to encounter him so soon.

"No." She cried, her voice coming out louder than she wanted it to again.

The forlorn figure noticed the two of them approaching the shop and started to trot lightly in their direction. Robin only appeared slightly confused, so Lucina stepped up and pointed the Falchion to the figure approaching them. The sword tip shuddered in fear and fatigue but it was enough to make the figure stop in his tracks.

"Lucius, what… Captain Falcon? What are you doing here?" Robin sputtered.

Captain Falcon gasped at Lucina's shaken self. He appeared genuinely concerned as Robin had when she left the station. But after tonight of what his co-worker did to Lucina, the once appreciated compassion the man had for them now seemed like a façade. Lucina supported the Falchion with both hands.

"Are-are you two hurt?" He faltered.

"Leave me alone!" Lucina screamed, but her cries were masked by the thunder that struck, revealing her bloodied self and blade for a second.

The hands that were held up to indicate no harm dropped slightly. Captain Falcon seemed to finally notice that no attempt at worrying for Lucina's injuries would alleviate her now, as he frowned.

"Roy… went to talk to you." He explained. "I told him he didn't need to get his sword but, I guess he was right. He never really was good negotiator when it came to finding Marth."

When Captain Falcon took a risking step forward, Lucina felt the hairs on her head perk up, but some were not from fear. Robin had one arm around Lucina's shoulders, and another holding his Levin Sword out to Captain Falcon. The saw-like blade hissed with electrical energy.

"Stay back." Robin warned.

Captain Falcon stopped again. His eyes were round from the elusive weapon. It was a dangerous bet considering their surrounding area was covered in muddy water, an excellent conductor, but Lucina was grateful that Robin understood.

"Robin,"

"You hurt my friend. That should be more than enough of a reason that I'm not going to trust you. Now stay back."

After a full minute, their adversary finally stepped back in defeat. He didn't say a single word as he turned his back and disappeared into the darkness and rain. Lucina and Robin stood under the rain for another passing moment until a woman stepped out to grab her full funnel. She scurried back in like a rat and locked the door behind her.

"I'm putting your sword away, okay?" Robin explained.

Lucina didn't notice how hard she was clutching onto the grip. The last of Roy's blood on the blade washed away from the rain but she knew that moment of him leaning on her and falling onto the floor dead would haunt her as long as she held onto her sword.

* * *

Author's Note: As I proofread this I noticed there were so many Smash characters with names that start with "Lu" (Lucina, Lucas, Luigi, Lucario) ...I didn't do it on purpose, I swear. The last scene with Captain Falcon, Lucina, and Robin is on purpose and is a reference to their announcement movie though! Not much of a fight but I thought Lucina would be too tired so it came out this way. As always, Thanks for reading this far and I'm open for questions but I promise won't give any spoilers. I'll see you in the next chapter!


	5. To Trust A Stranger

"You're safe now."

The world of white darkened in color. With another blink, Lucina found herself sitting on a stool inside the potion shop. A whiff of the sweet cough syrup swirled inside her lungs. From behind, Robin's hand gently enclosed across her forehead, bringing the rest of her senses back. But instead of his hand comforting her, she was overwhelmed as if someone covered her face with a thin plastic bag. Water inside her boiled up to her lungs.

She didn't notice she was clenching on Robin's arm with both hands, wringing on his limb as she did with her sword, until he made a small suppressed sound. He had a brush in his other hand, now stopped in the middle of Lucina's hip-length locks. But he didn't withdraw his hand or tell Lucina to snap out of it. He simply waited.

"You're safe." Robin said again.

Lucina spread her hands and let them freeze. She nodded briskly. The skin didn't break but Robin did take a quick breath as if to hold in the pain. Another glass piece fell into the disposal bin behind her. Gentle, cold noises soaked into her being and filled the closed potion shop in a somber embrace.

The area around her was tangible now. The Falchion was on the table, clearing half of the piled up books onto the floor. A part of its blade shone into her eyes. The green rug that Luigi repositions each time someone steps on it was curled and wrinkled against the wall. Two bottles on the counter were shattered.

Robin shook his head. "Don't worry about those, I'll clean it later."

Lucina sunk into her seat. The person inside the mirror was a ghost of what she was this morning. What she thought were glass pieces at first glance were streaks of grey hair painted from the root to the tip. There were fine and toothed lines all across her body, some more dark and deep than the others but all of them hurt. Her eyes were a stale red that seemed to permeate across her eyelids and nose like a child's drawing.

Robin kept his eyes down into Lucina's hair, brushing out the last of the glass pieces with the bristle brush. Every once in a while, he would bring his hand up to the base of the nose and wipe across. As soon as Lucina heard him sniffle, tears clouded her vision.

"I don't understand why this keeps happening. How dare they do this to you. I—" He stopped and took in a sharp breath.

At almost the same time, both looked up and met eyes in the mirror. It only lasted for a second as Robin covered his mouth and nose and looked away again. Lucina hadn't seen Robin so miserable since they talked to the poisoned boy at the bakery. In a way, she felt the boy's pain not only from her fleshly injuries but from how caring Robin was. And to think how _cold_ she was when she assumed there was nothing they can do to help and pulled him back.

Lucina couldn't look away from the reflection. It was awful, being able to see her mangled self and her friend killing his cries and tears all in one sight, but she wouldn't have been able to see this had she died a couple hours prior. Although she knew this was not the best outcome. A "best" outcome was skewed based on perspective and there was a good chance that there was no best outcome from that time at the arena.

"I'm so sorry I dragged you into this." Robin said between gasps.

The words were clear in Lucina's head but her voice would not respond. Robin still had his mouth covered, squeezing his eyes shut but tears were coursing down his fingers as the rain does when it travels down the muddy walls to the floors below.

These injuries were not Robin's fault; Lucina knew that. He introduced her to the Family and the elusive prince, but her interest wasn't forced. However, she also didn't want to believe it was her fault that she almost died.

A warm weight pressed against Lucina's back. It hurt to turn and check, but she assumed Robin sat down on another stool behind her and rested his head onto her curled back. His bottled-up sobs stung the insides of her ears.

With him out of her line of sight in the mirror, she lowered her head, and saw her left foot was stitched together and submerged in a plate of thick liquid. There could have been some numbing formula in the medicinal liquid but any pain that was there a couple hours ago was completely gone. All five toes were intact but the skin was rippled and white. The limb appeared alien; she almost forgot how to move her toes.

"You can't," She croaked, "blame yourself."

"And I'm not going to let you blame yourself." Robin muttered. His hair and voice against her back sent chills down her spine.

It was a strange feeling. At that moment when she fended off Roy or when she screamed at Captain Falcon, she felt a definite hate toward them. Perhaps it was an animalistic instinct of dealing with threat but now that she was here, that feeling was gone. There was no sorrow or acceptance, just a longing feeling that something could have been better.

"Roy, asked," Lucina started, but every word needed to be forced out.

Saying his name brought so much distress to her throat. The events at the arena were so unreal now but she couldn't deny the weight of the fatigue pressing her down into the stool, and the cuts, bruises, and burns all over her body.

"He asked, you and I to join…"

When Roy picked his sword off the glass covered ground, Lucina remembered the baker during the riot. Albeit she didn't mean for him to die also, but she could distinctly remember how disgusted she was that he was still alive after that tremendous amount of trauma. Surely she would have died a lot sooner. But now she sits in front of this mirror, somewhat alive.

"…the Family to find the prince…"

Was it the prince's fault that riot happened? He definitely started the sparks but a simple sign worked because there was some evil that needed to be addressed. And as Lucina remembered telling Bowser Jr., the baker didn't start making rat poison rolls without a reason, the thieves were ruining his business. So, would that make the thieves like the homeless boy be the source of evil?

"…and I said no."

There was no source of evil. Not an obvious one that Lucina could think of. Perhaps the idea of pointing fingers to someone and forcing the responsibility onto them was wrong. If everything was wrong, would it turn right if everything was torn down?

"Because I thought that would protect us."

It was a strange feeling. Only a couple weeks ago, Lucina looked down on the idea of tearing everything down and starting from scratch would make things better. It still didn't make sense to her now, but she could almost understand the motivation behind it.

"I think your choice was right." Robin replied.

"But I keep thinking," Lucina breathed, "There could have been a better choice."

The weight lifted off of her back. Lucina glanced up to the mirror again but found her friend still looking down. The dim lighting of the closed shop made Robin's interesting hair color appear dull like the grey streaks in her hair.

"You shouldn't think backwards if you don't know what you did wrong. It may have not been the best choice but sometimes you have to face the consequences. And besides, what if that choice ended up with you dead?"

"I didn't want to kill him." Lucina cut him short.

Robin lifted his head. Tears still filled his eyes but there was a tinge of confusion in his expression now. His lips quivered as he asked, "You weren't, _alone_ , when you faced him, were you?"

Seeing the terrified look on her friend face, Lucina's first thought for some reason was to lie. But lying would only hurt him more in the long run.

"I was, alone." She whispered.

"What?" He cried. "What about your commander, or the other people at the station? Somebody must have heard the commotion! It was still early when you came out... They didn't make you face Roy alone, right?"

When Lucina couldn't muster the energy to respond, Robin fell back onto his stool again and wrapped his arms around Lucina. She stared at the ghostly white arms that crossed in front of her; grateful of the warmth against her back, but too exhausted to provide Robin any form of comfort. Her friend shuddered in small recesses, and while his arms were taut, his fingertips trembled.

Lucina's thoughts about the Citadel, the Family, the prince, and everything else dissolved inside Robin's arms for the moment. Her thoughts of the source of evil didn't matter now, and seeing how that disappeared so quickly, she realized that all she wanted from the beginning was to be safe. And safety was a luxury in the walled city.

"Maybe we can find a position for you here." Robin suggested.

"Where?"

"Here at the shop. I'll talk to Dr. Mario tomorrow."

"No." Lucina responded. "I can't, do that to my commander."

Robin pulled away, stood up so he faced her, but still kept a firm grip on her shoulders. "The same commander that didn't hear you fighting a Family member and didn't help you?"

"There must have been some mistake. Just like when you weren't there when I got kidnapped by the Guerrillas." Lucina grabbed Robin's shirt, suddenly feeling blood pumping through her body again as she tried to get out of her stool.

Her injured foot didn't respond to her fervor though, as a sharp, shooting sensation darted up her left leg. Lucina yelped and clutched onto Robin like a scared cat. The plate with the medicinal liquid clattered, spilling some on the floor.

The tense look in Robin's eyes softened and he eased Lucina back on the stool again slowly. Without the liquid on her foot now, the pain came in each time with her heartbeat. It felt like two giant hands were wringing her lungs dry. Black clouds obscured her vision.

"I'm sorry." Robin apologized candidly.

As the left foot was submerged into the liquid again, the pain was almost instantly gone, and Lucina hoped the clouds would go away but her vision kept getting darker and darker. The last thing she remembered was the vertigo of falling from her seat, and as a pair of arms caught her fall, thick, saliva-mixed blood pooled on her chest.

* * *

Lucina felt her entire body fall asleep as she saw it wasn't Robin that caught her. In her clenched hands was the Falchion lodged hilt-deep into the person's stomach, shuddering and digging around the fatal wound. The wet, muddling noise was so nauseating it skewed her vision. But the shakes in her hands wouldn't stop.

Roy clawed into Lucina's arms. The arms should have hurt, but her entire body was pulsating in stinging pain as if he ripped two layers of her skin off.

"Marth, promised."

"I'm sorry." Lucina muttered.

Roy tilted his head. His dilated eyes fixed onto Lucina as if he was faking the pain.

"You're sorry?"

"I didn't want to kill you."

"Neither did I, and look at how we ended up."

"I just wanted my father and Robin to be safe."

"So you chose to kill me."

"I didn't…"

Roy continued, with articulate words, "You could have swiped my feet like how I did to you or threatened me or disabled me until Ganondorf came or called for help or ran away or—"

Lucina caught herself before she said her immediate thought aloud. Though she was never fond of herself and knew most of her flaws, this response out of her gave her a revelation she did not want to know about herself.

 _Why aren't you dead yet?_

She was biting her mouth shut but from the amused, bloody smile her adversary had, he seemed to understand what she was going to say.

Her body dipped forward. Now she had both feet on the ground, one spread open and destroyed and another barely supporting herself. In her right hand was the heavy Falchion stained and dragging against the tile. Blood, glass, and smoke decorated the arena but the body that was supposed to be there was gone.

* * *

A faint sweet smell filled her lungs as Lucina woke up at the potion shop again. Immediately, a pillow-like object pressed against her forehead and another supported her neck, as she shot up from her sleep. After a couple deep breaths and blinks, she noticed the two pillows were Lucario's paws taking care of her. He didn't speak a word but his care was nimble and precise.

Lucina had a moment to be surprised by Lucario's grip on the glass full of clean water as he didn't appear to have opposable thumbs. He nodded, pressing the rim of the glass gently against her lips. She took a careful sip and lifted her chin to force it down her throat. The water was lukewarm but it stung her insides like swallowing a needle as it traveled down.

As Lucario did his small check-ups, Lucina glanced at the small clock sitting on one of the desks. The red digital interface read 1400. She only then noticed the bustling in the street and Dr. Mario's bored voice as he talked to customers in the front of the shop. It was already an hour past her reporting time.

The fabric that hung from the ceiling separating the backroom from the shop wavered as Luigi poked his head through. His moustache curled into a smile upon finding Lucina.

"Thank goodness, you're awake!" Luigi sighed.

"I'm late for duty." Lucina cried out throatily. Her voice was barely a whisper.

When she tried to get out of the small bed, both Lucario and Luigi stepped forward and gently convinced her to sit again. As much as Lucina wanted to burst out of the shop and run to the station, she didn't have power to even stand up.

"Ah ah! Stay here, please. You're alright." Luigi reassured. "We're under strict orders from Robin to look after you until he returns."

In the corner of the room with the sink and the mirror, she saw a glimpse of herself with flesh-colored sticker bandages covering every cut the glass shards made. Her left foot was wrapped in layers of gauzes and rolls. The Falchion was sheathed and leaning against the wall, a little ways away from her. The damage she's done to the shop was neat and forgotten. Lucina imagined Robin's co-workers quietly cleaning up, taking turns caring for her as she slept in the bed. She looked down into her hands.

Her lips quivered, trying to find a reason to leave. "I need to go. My duty. My father."

"Robin went to your apartment room. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

An unfitting feeling washed over her. She was grateful of Lucario and Luigi looking after her, and Robin for everything else, but something felt out of place. Perhaps doing nothing instead of the usual routine was uncomfortable since her fingers were pinching the blanket that was over her.

"Soon as in now, actually." Robin stepped into the room, a smile on his face but the very apparent red in his eyes indicated his smile was forced.

In his hands were the three different keys to Lucina's apartment room. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Even though Robin was the one person outside the room that she could truly trust, Lucina felt the same animalistic fear when Roy told her he was a member of the Family. The same fear where she felt like her whole identity was in danger.

"I'm sorry I took your keys." Robin apologized. "I know they mean a lot that you hold onto them."

Lucina blinked. "No, I… I don't…"

On the sidelines, Lucario nervously clutched onto the bandage rolls and stared at Luigi and Robin. But Luigi understood the situation, and pulled the anxious Lucario by his palms to leave the room. Dr. Mario out in front told something to his brother and they instantly started a banter.

Robin placed the keys back in Lucina's hands with a light clink. The warmth of the metal keys from being in his hands felt strange. Since her father gave her the keys after he couldn't really move from his bed anymore, they've been in her possession and never left her side.

"I couldn't let Chrom wait for his medication. …And I couldn't let him in the dark." Robin explained.

"Was he surprised?"

"No. He smiled and greeted me like how he always would. I gave him his dailies, made us lunch, and told him you got injured and I took care of you at the shop."

"Did you tell him I…"

He shook his head. "It's not my position to explain to him. I don't know if you explained things to Chrom yet but I think he's getting suspicious of what we're doing. I can do the talking or you can."

Lucina couldn't take her eyes off from the three keys.

It was a quarter past three when Robin and his co-workers finally said okay on her going to work, with Robin's assistance. The burn on her left foot needed to be sterile so Luigi offered his green rain boots. They were several sizes too big but it beats dirty water and infections. The first step still felt like someone hammered a nail in the base of her foot so Robin stood on her left side for support.

When Lucina asked Dr. Mario what the payment would be for using the medicine and bandages as well as compensation for the broken bottles, his usual relaxed sitting self stood up from his stool.

"Did you pay last time?"

"No, um," Lucina stammered, remembering when she came to the shop instead of going home when she was kidnapped by the Guerrillas. At that time she wanted to see if Robin was okay after his disappearance but she did need some medical attention, and she got that for free. "Robin told me to not worry about it but..."

"Right, so don't worry about it." Mario concluded.

The way he said it so matter-of-factly took her aback. Robin was tugging on her sleeves before she paid for anything, but after Mario's response, he stopped to listen.

"I… don't want to freeload your products and use your shop because Robin works here." she countered.

Mario frowned. "Freeloading? If Robin was napping in the back during work, _that_ is freeloading. You suffered third degree burns in your foot, lacerations from head to toe, and from what I see, mental trauma from your hair greying like that. I'd send you to a hospital but I don't trust those unlicensed schmucks and I wanted to help you. We need to help each other out in order to live. Okay, Lucius?"

A warm reassuring feeling spread across Lucina's being. She was so comfortable in this potion shop, she forgot to hide her hip-length hair to keep her disguise. Still, the workers treated her the same and cared for her wellbeing. The one thing she could say was to explain how she got these injuries but she resorted to revealing something else.

"My name is Lucina, by the way." She greeted softly.

* * *

"I can't believe you actually said your name to them." Robin sighed. Lucina heard the smile in his voice.

The late afternoon streets of the Outer Rim was filled with moisture. Lucina also borrowed a raincoat from Luigi to shelter her cuts from the rain and also as a form of disguise since her outer cloak was burned and stained from yesterday. There was a chance that they would encounter Captain Falcon again, but the rain also helped them keep a low profile. One step at a time, they walked to the station.

"I couldn't keep my alias around people who saved my life." She muttered.

"You trust them."

Lucina nodded. It wasn't just because they provided her shelter and took care of her. When Mario said helping each other was a natural response, Lucina genuinely felt happy being there. Having a person like Robin be her friend was a blessing but knowing she could trust more people was truly a gift. But she couldn't tell them she killed a Family member since that might put them in danger. All they did was treat her injuries. It might just be a placebo since Captain Falcon did show up in front of the potion shop but it was a medicine she needed.

When the stairs to the station drew near, Lucina's footing stopped. She relied heavily on Robin so he came to a surprised halt as well. Thoughts in a form of a thick fog enveloped her and prevented her from taking another step. What happened after she ran away last night? What if Roy wasn't actually dead? Did she really kill a person yesterday?

She could smell the blood and smoke.

"I'll go in with you." Robin offered. There was concern but also some determination in his eyes.

"You can't. Unless you're an authorized personnel…" Lucina trailed off.

An unfamiliar shadow was casting the two of them. Her commander was sitting at the top of the stairs, outside the actual station. Sitting was more of an understatement; the once proud authority figure appeared as if he was hard-pressed and welded into the metal netting. She almost couldn't recognize him from his miserable stance.

"Commander…?"

The large man lifted his head from his hands and stared blankly below him. It took a couple seconds of silence to register the situation before he shot up and started tearing down the metal stairs. Lucina felt Robin step forward slightly and stiffen as if he was protecting her.

"Lucius! Lucius, you're alive!" He thundered as his steps against the metals stairs also rang the insides of her ears.

"Are you the commander?" Robin interjected.

Ganondorf blinked. He seemed to notice Robin only now that he was at the bottom of the stairs. The rude question also seemed to freeze him over again as he kept a hand on the railing. Under his coat, Lucina saw that her friend had a grip on his Levin Sword.

"Don't." Lucina said whilst placing a hand on Robin's.

He loosened his grip on the sword, but didn't take his eyes off of Ganondorf. "Where were you last night when my friend was fighting against a Family member, alone?"

"Robin,"

The left foot seemed to hurt more from seeing her friend confronting her commander. As much as she wanted the answer to the same question, she wanted nothing more than to pretend this situation wasn't happening before her. The true purpose of a guard's job was to protect the Royals against the Family, as she somewhat did yesterday, but Lucina noticed she was fine and actually wanted to keep on training with no threats whatsoever.

Roy was right. She didn't care about protecting the Royals. She will never know them and neither will they. If an actual assault happened, when given the chance, she could see herself running away from the station.

"Come inside." The commander replied. "Both of you."

As Ganondorf turned to climb the stairs again, Lucina spotted large dark stains dulling the reflection in his plated boots. There were no obvious injuries or discrepancies on him except for the rounded back. Ganondorf being fine probably meant the other guards were fine as well, but his presence itself after what happened yesterday made her overly nervous. Each step up the stairs was tormenting and barely tolerable.

* * *

Stagnant air hung low in the station. Even the hallway to the cafeteria was dim and silent. There should be guards in the benches, walking down the halls, chatting in the balcony, but none were there. Just like yesterday night.

Robin kept a firm hand around Lucina's shoulders as the three of them advanced further into the station. He didn't really see the surroundings but Lucina could tell he was alert for something. Ganondorf walked ahead in a steady pace; his heavyset boots would usually echo in the halls but today they seemed to glide across the polished floors.

Glass shards still filled the floor of the arena. It was the one place that was lit up so the reflections were even more harsh. Remnants of the blood and smoky odor lingered but most was washed away from the water, which made big puddles in the tile and glass. Robin took a quick look at Lucina as if he was trying to verify something. She nodded.

A small part of Lucina hoped Roy's body was still there, but he was gone as well.

"The next group of cleaners are going to come tonight to pick up the glass pieces. I told them to hold off but I guess it wasn't my authority to give orders." Ganondorf trailed off.

"Sir, you didn't call for the cleaners?" Lucina asked, carefully wording her question.

Ganondorf turned his head to Lucina and Robin. His overall expression seemed blank and took a while to focus. He looked like he could fall dead right now. The dullness in his boots resembled caked blood, which should mean he was at the arena before the cleaners did their jobs. Judging it was only his boots that were dirtied, the commander fell to his knees at the sight of the disaster.

"Why don't we sit down and talk?" Robin offered.

The cafeteria was polished clean. Plates were stacked, countertops were cleared, even the garbage cans were emptied, leaving only the faint smell of cleaning agents behind. Only a couple weeks ago, Lucina sat across from Ganondorf and ate dinner while he talked about him gaining weight and needing more exercise. She had an intuition that somewhat embarrassing but heartwarming scene would never happen again.

Before they sat down, Ganondorf stuck out a hand to Robin and forced a smile.

"You must be Lucius' friend. Commander Ganondorf of the Outer Rim station."

"Robin." He said shortly as he shook the hand.

Ganondorf sat down first, and watched as Robin helped Lucina sit in the seat across from him. She tried to situate herself as quiet as possible but her injuries and rustling plastic raincoat made quite a scene.

"Last night's incident…" The commander started. "I want you to know everything caught me off guard and none of this was executed in the right way. Forgive me for not being there, Lucius."

"I think assaults don't come with a notice." Lucina muttered.

A bitter taste closed in her throat for talking back to her superior but she couldn't hold back. There was no more patience for avoiding around and not getting the answer. An attack happened, it was going to happen some day, but the fact that after all of that conflict and Ganondorf didn't hear it was out of character. The entirety of the arena's glass wall fell down and spread throughout the tiles. People outside the station should have heard it.

"You're right. I…" Ganondorf struggled.

"Sir, did the cleaners take care of a body, and was that a Family member I killed?" She added.

"It was. It was Roy." Her commander squeezed his eyes shut.

The confirmation struck into Lucina's soul. It was somewhat relieving but was more of a jarring shock that she actually killed someone by her doing. That moment where she drove the Falchion into Roy's stomach wasn't a fever dream. In his dying breath, he still believed in the prince's ambition.

In the glass of the door that lead to the hallway, a reflection looked back at her with dilated eyes. A vigorous hand rubbed her shoulders to snap out of it.

"Breathe." Robin advised.

She nodded, not even noticing she was holding her breath. It wasn't over yet. Roy threatened her but also promised to not kill her. He came for Lucina specifically and knew exactly when to get her alone. The timing was too perfect; Ganondorf left to answer a call and there weren't any guards around the arena. But she couldn't think of the right way to pose the question.

Lucina must have looked at Robin for help, because he knew the right question.

"I'm no expert, but I thought the Royal Battalion didn't know much about the members except for the leader. Or do you keep that information hidden from other guards?"

Ganondorf opened his eyes and kept them open, but didn't meet with either Lucina or Robin. Time seemed to stop.

From what Lucina learned as a trainee, the Family would annihilate the stations one by one, every member acting as one entity and never making public appearances except for the leader, the elusive prince. A couple residents sided with the prince and started to tear down the infrastructure themselves, while some who opposed fought back against their neighbors. It wasn't until a rumor spread that the prince had lost, that everyone had to cease fire. There wasn't a reason to fight anymore. Most people hid in their homes but some people killed each other for a new world and it ended abruptly, leaving deep scars and permanent grudges against each other. If the Royals had any authority or ruling power, it was gone fifteen years ago.

When Lucas slipped his mouth about the Guerrillas having a list of old Family members, Lucina somewhat excused the legitimacy of it since they were doing their own research out of curiosity. The Royal Battalion should have a more refined research division since it was their only threat and only focus. It could be because Lucina is a new guard but if Ganondorf relies on her on the slightest level, she should know more about the enemy. Because attacking blind almost cost her life yesterday night.

"Do… you know the members, sir?"

The question took all of Lucina's breath. Her commander still hadn't answered Robin's question and remained a frozen statue. If it wasn't obvious before, it was now. Ganondorf was hiding things.

Robin was balling his fists underneath the table. Likewise Lucina placed a hand on his back to ease him. As she rubbed his back, he bit his lips to hold himself from interrogating the commander. She appreciated Robin's presence here now but she hoped he understood that attacking Ganondorf with demands and questions would go nowhere.

When the commander spoke again, Lucina could almost hear the silence ripping away like a dry piece of paper.

"I knew Roy. He must have done terrible damage to you. I understand you don't deserve this but I'll give you paid leave until your injuries are healed. I'll formulate my response in the meantime."

As if it was a timed answer, there was a faint rattle on the metal door. Dozens of white machines with dustpan arms rolled into the arena and began to systematically clean up the glass pieces. Ganondorf didn't meet eyes or say any sendoffs as he held the door open for Lucina and Robin to leave. The last of the cleaners arrived with large clunky disposal bins and the door to the station was shut closed again.

The two of them stood in front of the locked door in stunned silence. Murky rainwater still covered their ankles and showered on them from the cracks in the ceiling. While the water crawled down the worn walls, the rain hitting against the smooth metal door slithered down in fine strings.

"When your foot gets better, I'm coming with you again." Robin confirmed.

Lucina couldn't think of a way to refuse his offer. She didn't want to admit, but she was irritated and confused at her commander for not clarifying what he appears to know. He knew Roy. He might have known that Roy was going after Lucina. But he didn't warn her. That put-on smile he gave her last night before he took a call from his transceiver could have been the last time she saw him.

The two made their way back to the potion shop again, after Robin convinced Lucina that Dr. Mario wanted to look over her injuries. Her first thought was her father, still sleeping alone after Robin visited him this morning, so she went her way to make Robin grip the three keys to the apartment room. She didn't say anything and Robin stayed quiet but he had a smile on his face as they walked back supporting her left foot.

* * *

The following morning, Robin dropped off Chrom's medication for the week and helped Lucina back into the apartment room. The warm, comforting smell almost brought tears to her eyes. Robin promised to continue treating her cuts and burns tomorrow and left the room to give her privacy. As Lucina was treated at the potion shop, she rehearsed the talk to her father, and noticed she was as nervous as she was when she talked back to her commander. After all, in order to not make her father worry, she hasn't said anything about their investigation for the Family.

Chrom was soundly asleep. He faced the door with legs stretching to the end of the bed in a relaxed position. When Lucina brushed his fingertips, they were warm.

It felt out of place, sitting by her father at this time of the day and not being at the station. But it was soothing to hear him sleep. The room behind her, her room, was too uncomfortable. The Falchion leaned against the wall, her uniform and circlet laid flat on the untouched bed, the transceiver Captain Falcon gave her was splayed on the dresser with its batteries ripped out, and next to it, the one month paid leave Ganondorf gave her was still in the paper envelope. She did check its insides after he told her it was a month's worth but didn't bother to actually count the payment.

Roy haunted her dreams. Now that Ganondorf confirmed his death the nightmares got worse. Last night, it was Lucina that had a sword through her stomach. The blade sprouting from her back didn't quiver like hers, but continued to dig into her insides. The overturning, painful but sickening sensation felt so real. She never had someone pierce a sword through her back, but in the dream it was just as she would have imagined.

Then as Roy drew the blade out, standing behind him, a cloaked individual came forward and caught her fall. The motion was fast so Lucina saw a glimpse of the person's face before the hood settled over his face again. One hazy blue eye and one milky eye. He still appeared young but age was starting to show in the corners of his face.

His voice was strong as if he was speaking into her ears: "You didn't kill him."

"Lucina."

A warm hand brushed through her hair. As Lucina sniffled and repositioned, she saw her father was awake with a smile that lifted up his cheeks. It took a while to notice she fell asleep in her seat. An hour had passed by.

"Your snores woke me up." He chuckled.

"I don't snore." Lucina frowned.

"Oh yes you do. Well, if you're napping here, are you off today?"

Her father was brushing through the grey streak. His tone was light but that made it even harder for Lucina to explain what had happened.

"I got injured at the station. I'm on paid leave for a couple weeks."

The words stopped there. Her father's hand retreated underneath the blanket but she still felt the attention on her. When the Guerrillas kidnapped her, she avoided talking because he didn't ask questions. He deserved an explanation then too but she took the advantage that he wasn't feeling as well than he was now. But she couldn't name why the words were stuck.

Before she joined the Royal Battalion and before Robin started working at the potion shop, her father used to look over her injuries. That was also before he became bedridden but if anyone deserved to know how she got these injuries, it was her father.

"When you were young, you ran away and didn't come home for three days." Her father murmured.

Lucina looked up. The lifting smile her father had was just hanging on his lips now.

He continued: "It happened from a dumb fight and I regretted immediately but you were too quick when you ran out. Luckily Robin passed by and he helped me find you. After the first night, I was wallowing in guilt. It was the most I've cried since your mother died.

"But Robin didn't stop to worry. He kept searching. And searching. And on the third day, as he was telling me all the places you and him know, he had one more spot on his mind and he found you there. The Outer Rim was a nicer place back then since you were drinking some fruit juice someone gave you and looking up at the cracks in the ceiling. My life felt whole again when I hugged you and Robin. I noticed I didn't trust him to find you so since then he's been like a son to me."

When Lucina blinked, not recounting this ever happening to her, Chrom chuckled.

"The moral of the story is to know who to trust."

"I trust Robin too."

"That's not what I… Ah, go to your room, I'm still sleepy." Her father grumbled, turning away from Lucina in his bed. A bit of red painted his cheeks so he could have been embarrassed unfolding an old story.

It wasn't that Lucina didn't understand his story. It's what she had been struggling with and starting to overcome. But she realized one reason why she couldn't talk to her father. Despite loving and caring for him, she knew explaining could only hurt him, and he could not help her like he used to. This apartment room was the only safe haven from the Family, the station, and everything else in the Citadel. And she couldn't bring that into her home. Now it was her turn to protect him.

* * *

"Do you feel any pain or discomfort?" Luigi asked.

Lucina was back at the potion shop, this time Luigi wanted to look over how her foot was healing. It's been a week since she last went to the station. The brief healing period has been lackluster but peaceful. She still had trouble sleeping but the nightmares didn't happen every night now.

"Um, it feels numb." She answered.

" _I_ feel uncomfortable letting Luigi look at your foot, Lucina." Dr. Mario made an audible sigh. "Let me know if he does something wrong, okay?"

Luigi cupped his hands into a whisper to Lucina. "That's Mario's way of saying he cares about you a lot. But I'm more careful than him."

"Ah ah! I heard that!"

Luigi laughed so she smiled. Robin's co-workers treated her no different than before since she revealed her real name and gender. She hoped that would be the case but as soon as that happened, as soon as she realized it didn't make a big impact, it came as a bit of a surprise.

"I don't think you need a skin graft." Lucario remarked, peering over Luigi's shoulder.

"Yes, Robin stitched that up very nicely." Luigi nodded. "The numbness might be from the formula but the cut is pretty deep so some of your nerves might be affected. It shouldn't interfere with your walking other than feeling a little tingly in each step."

Walking. In these past couple of days, Lucina had help getting to the potion shop and back home. The throbbing pain was almost gone but each step in her left foot felt like walking in a shoe made of aluminum foil. Not impossible, but very uncomfortable. But sitting still made her think of the incident at the station so it was a distraction she needed. Even at home, she made herself busy with cleaning and taking care of her father.

Robin made Mario take them to the new supply shop to get some walking practice and to buy hair pins for Lucina. The doctor promised to take them to "The Gates of Hell" but it was obvious he's been trying to skirt around from the topic. Today, he made the excuse of the shop being too far away for Lucina. It certainly didn't sound like a normal establishment though it piqued her interest. But when Mario said the shop was in the Midst, Lucina did actually hesitate. The Guerrillas made their hideout in that region. So her new habit of leaving the Falchion at home was regrettably altered.

As much as she didn't want to hold the tainted blade, she was even more scared of entering the Midst unarmed. Though, Robin also took his Levin Sword with him and that took away some of the pressure.

Hot steam surrounded the three in thick blankets. Unlike the last time Lucina was in the Midst, the streets were lively with people passing by each other industriously. She noticed many of them had towels slung over their shoulders. With the perpetual steam from the water plant below them and the week-long rain from above, Lucina understood the need for the big towels. She also noticed there were more people lounging carelessly in the doorsteps and chairs placed outside.

The streets were anything but cold and still the doctor rubbed his arms as if he was freezing.

"This place gives me the heebie-jeebies." He muttered.

"That's the third time you said that since we got to the Midst." Robin reminded. "What are 'heebie-jeebies' anyway?"

"An idiom. I read it in a book."

"I've read all of the books at the shop twice over."

"I have different books at my room too. Why would I keep a book of idioms at the shop?"

"To pass time when we don't have customers."

Lucina smiled at their fast-paced chitchat. Despite Mario's uneasiness, she found herself becoming more comfortable walking around. It might be because she wasn't alone and it was in the middle of the day but the people in the Midst seemed to mind their business and kept themselves occupied more so than the Outer Rim.

Then, as soon as they approached the shop, the atmosphere changed.

"The Gates of Hell" wasn't a typical supply shop. The establishment was more of a bar or maybe even an expensive brothel. There were a couple in the Outer Rim as well with dark neon lights illuminating the entrance. The neon added a certain charm but Lucina never dared to go near one before.

"Uh, are you sure this is a _supply shop_?" Robin emphasized, nudging Mario with his elbow. But Mario was shorter than him so he was nudging his face.

"Read the sign." Mario swatted Robin's elbow and pointed to the A-frame near the entrance. The list of products included candies, drinks, light food, toiletries, repair service, and "unearthly treasures". The last item was emphasized with quotation marks, which made Lucina wonder if it was a code for prostitution or something else.

"Right." Mario cleared his throat. "So I'll stay here, you two go inside, okay?"

Robin's mouth hung open. "You're not coming? Mario, I thought you were the braver brother."

"Oh Luigi won't even step foot into the Midst. He says he wants to venture around but there's a reason why we opened the shop where it is. You're very lucky I guided you this far."

Lucina gulped. The shop wasn't particularly menacing. It was more mysterious and she couldn't wrap her mind on what awaits for her inside. She recalled the blind shop owner from a couple weeks ago. If things didn't change she would have always went to that shop. But an accident happened and for that woman things will never be the same again. Still, was it worth entering to buy a couple of hair pins or to search for another supply shop?

"First-timers?" A solid but calm voice resonated from behind.

When Lucina flinched and spun her head around, she was taken aback at the sight of a woman's arms crossed over her chest. Having to look up another foot to meet her face was somehow unsettling, but everything about her was stunning. The woman was an ageless type of beautiful. Lucina couldn't take a guess on how old she was or even what kind of clothes she was wearing.

"The name is quite alarming but Rodin is generous, for a price, anyway." The woman continued. "And you should know better than to just stop in the middle of the street around here. In you all go!"

With a shove as strong as her voice, Lucina, Robin, and Mario was forced into "The Gates of Hell". The inside of the shop was dark with seldom neon lights, giving the impression of its space feeling wider than it looks from the outside.

A dark-skinned man was behind the counter rubbing the inside of a glass cup with a cloth. He noticed the new customers and smiled when he saw the woman. Or he seemed to see, since he wore colored lenses that hid his eyes.

"You finally brought some friends, huh, Bayonetta?" The bartender said with a sigh.

The woman rolled her eyes as she continued to push the three closer to the bar counter. Lucina was compelled to accept the forced steps for some reason, one of them being she felt the name "Bayonetta" was perfect for the woman. It was similar to the way she felt when she learned her commander's name was Ganondorf; a strong name that left an impression of the person.

"Uh, Bayonetta, my friend here has his foot injured." Robin stammered.

Bayonetta raised her arms. "Oh, I apologize. I don't suppose you're here to drink away the pain, but that's none of my business." She then winked furtively and took a seat at the counter.

Upon closer inspection, Lucina noticed Bayonetta was wearing a skin-tight black suit and looked away as she did. She felt her cheeks blush and thanked the dark lighting of the bar. More than anything, she was surprised at how forward Bayonetta was.

"So, what can I do for you today?" The bartender, Rodin, leaned forward with a smirk.

Mario had his eyes wide and fiddling with his fingers like he was still shocked that Bayonetta shoved him into the bar. To be fair, "The Gates of Hell" was unusual and intimidating. Even the smooth music from the record player seemed to have a hidden ominous meaning behind it. But despite its unsettling atmosphere, Lucina couldn't deny the instinct that this place along with Bayonetta and Rodin wasn't dangerous.

"I was hoping you'd have hair pins." Lucina said.

For a second, Bayonetta and Rodin shared a similar surprised look. From an outside point of view it was indeed a strange request, but the bartender nodded. He opened one of the many cabinets from behind the counter and pulled out a tray. Lucina and Robin then shared a look of surprise that a cabinet for hairpins existed so conveniently close to the bar counter.

On top of the smooth, fine cloth were hairpins neatly placed with careful precision. Some had strange jewels, some were strewn with arcane symbols, some looked like more of a weapon than a hairpin, and none seemed suitable to the amount she had in her pocket.

"See anything that you like?" The bartender probed.

As Lucina scanned the rows of pins for something simpler, a gentle hand brushed through a strand of her loose hair. Bayonetta had a frown on her lips as she ran her fingers through Lucina's hair again.

"Um—" Lucina muttered, but she was cut off.

Still looking at her hair, Bayonetta asked, "Have you been through trouble?"

From the corner of her eye, Lucina saw that Bayonetta was touching her grey strands. She flinched, bumping into Robin who was standing next to her. Bayonetta withdrew her hand with a knowing smile.

"We all go through rough times, don't we." Bayonetta said, then turned to the bartender, "Rodin, why don't you put the hairpins on my tab, hmm?"

No words could form in her head as Lucina was so stunned from that moment; even when Robin asked her if she was okay she could only nod. She managed to say a small 'thank you' as Bayonetta picked out some silver hair pins with small stars welded into the metal. The bartender eyed the transaction with some interest.

As they were getting ready to leave, the bartender reminded them that Mario had stepped outside as Lucina was looking through the hairpins. Robin rolled his eyes, mumbling something about him losing a bet. Lucina noticed he seemed relaxed in this bar as well, which made her somewhat believe in her instincts about this place.

"You're always welcome here, boys." Bayonetta winked. "If you ever need to run away from your problems or need a place to stay."

"You know, Bayonetta, this is _my_ shop." Rodin added.

She gave him a look. "And you need more customers other than me."

Lucina said her halfhearted greetings and pulled on Robin's sleeves to leave the establishment. They walked for her safety but if she didn't have the injured foot she wanted to leave a little quicker.

* * *

But once outside, the unease was instantly gone.

Mario was pressed against the wall by children, but he appeared downright terrified. Out of the five that were there, Lucina recognized one, the leader of the bunch. Before she could draw out her Falchion, he raised his hands and cried: "I'm not here to fight!"

The people bustling through the streets made wide turns away from the commotion, as none seemed particularly concerned. Lucina would act the same too; there was no reason to stick your head in a fight that wasn't yours. But this was too personal.

"Step away from my friend." Lucina warned, a hand still placed on the grip.

Bowser Jr. nodded promptly. He gestured with his hand to let his allies know to fall back. Mario scuttled to Robin and Lucina's side with a breathless thanks.

The four children stepped back behind Bowser Jr., not appearing scared but curiously looking back and forth from their leader and Lucina, their former hostage. None of them were armed with weapons and could pass as regular kids, except for their remarkable coordination as a group.

"I'm not here to fight." Bowser Jr. said again. "Thank Lucas."

"And where is Lucas?" Lucina pressed.

"We've been laying low after the incident with you. You know, talking."

"What did you do to him?"

Bowser Jr. blinked. "What do you mean, what did I do to him?"

One teammate tapped Bowser Jr. on the shoulder with a transceiver. He was about to brush him aside as a voice cracked through the machine. After a quick, quiet exchange, Bowser Jr. lifted the transceiver towards Lucina.

"Lucas wants to talk to you."

A tense atmosphere surrounded them as if the floors were made of glass. The transceiver Bowser Jr. held was a certain distance that Lucina could see it, but it was virtually impossible to hear the other person on the line due to the busy commotion in the streets.

The way Bowser Jr. acted when Lucina asked about Lucas' safety seemed like it took him aback, almost offended. But according to Robin and Mario, Lucas was a regular customer that comes in once a week and it's been several weeks since his last visit. There was every right to be concerned for his safety, especially since he said he would talk about them working together, despite the rough first impression.

As Lucina delved deeper into her thoughts, one of Bowser Jr.'s teammates fell out of line and snatched the transceiver. He (or she) skipped joyously toward Lucina, handing the device to her with both pink stubby arms and a smile. Something about the mysterious round form and big red feet seemed innocuous. Robin couldn't hide the smile on his face but when he met eyes with Lucina he forced it back into a frown again.

Lucina bent over to take the device from the child's hands. "Thank you."

The transceiver was considerably smaller than the one she had but it was a similar build. Lucina pressed the "Talk" button and waited for Lucas' reply.

" _Hello? Robin? Dr. Mario?_ "

"This is Lucius. We're all here." Lucina replied. She wished she didn't sound so cold but she knew she was nervous.

Robin leaned over, recognizing Lucas' voice. "Are you okay, buddy?"

" _Hi Lucius, hi Robin! I'm fine. Are you guys okay?_ " Lucas piped up. He sounded more enthusiastic now that he heard Robin's voice.

"No problems. Mario is a bit spooked but he'll be alright, right?" Robin looked back at Mario, who nodded briskly.

" _Dr. Mario? Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, my allies don't mean any harm._ " Lucas cried, then continuing to apologize to everyone including Lucina for some polite, good-natured reason.

"Cut to the chase!" Bowser Jr. growled.

" _Okay okay! We want to apologize and talk about working together, at our hideout._ "

Lucina looked back at Robin, who stayed quiet. She recalled their conversation that she should be the one who decides if they should collaborate their efforts or not.

"...As long as Dr. Mario goes home safely first. Robin can escort him." She replied.

"I can't let you be alone here." Robin interjected.

"I-I can walk back fine, no need to worry about me." Mario stuttered. "And yes, I don't want to leave you here either, especially since you're... um..."

Lucina let go of the button, leaving Lucas out of the transmission for a brief moment. "I'm not the strongest nor the most healthy but I'm a trained swordsman before I'm anything else. And you trust Lucas, right?"

Robin nodded, but Mario still stuttered, struggling to find words other than "because you're a girl", or at least that was what Lucina presumed.

The transceiver rang in her hands.

" _How about you guys come to the hideout and then I'll go to the potion shop with Dr. Mario? I wanted to buy more supplies anyway._ " Lucas suggested.

The three of them sat in silence, pleasantly surprised with his suggestion. And by hearing how Lucas was willing to help out compared to how he acted at the potion shop several weeks ago made Lucina wonder that Bowser Jr. actually listened to his idea.

"Uh, sure." Lucina said back, feeling her cheeks color.

* * *

During the walk to the Guerrillas hideout, Bowser Jr., who lead the way, kept looking behind him and made frequent awkward eye contact with Lucina. She understood, making such a sudden and dramatic exit after being held hostage, there was a good chance neither of them even dreamt of working together. How Lucas convinced him was a mystery but he didn't seem to have malicious intent, especially with his teammates surrounding them, smiling and giggling amongst each other.

Chills went down Lucina's spine to see the small and sturdy metal door she escaped from several weeks ago. She couldn't help gripping the Falchion's hilt underneath her cloak, but she took advantage of the thick, obscuring steam rising from the water plant below.

Lucas opened the door as the group approached. He appeared healthy; there were no signs of malnutrition or any injuries, and the curl in his blonde hair was still there. He didn't speak much to his leader before he waved at Robin and Lucina casually and took a very puzzled Mario back to the potion shop.

"So," Robin started, "You guys are Lucas' friends, huh?"

"…And I hope we can become _allies_." Bowser Jr. emphasized.

Robin raised his eyebrows but reserved any additional comments. One by one, the Guerrillas walked into the hideout. The pink child who gave Lucina the transceiver held the door open for them with the same friendly smile.

"How's your foot?" Robin whispered to Lucina.

"It's okay." She replied curtly.

Rather than her foot bothering her, she was tense, because the room Bowser Jr. lead to was the same room where she was disarmed and interrogated. Albeit nicer chairs replaced the plastic ones, they couldn't hide the metal pole she was tied against.

As they filed into the white-lit room, another boy already occupied a chair with arms crossed over his chest. Bowser Jr. made an audible sigh but Lucina felt her throat dry up from the sight of him.

"I thought you said they're going to be our allies now, junior." Ness deadpanned.

"I'm not gonna argue with you right now."

"Didn't you think the swordsman would be uncomfortable in here? Our guests deserve a better conference room than _this_." Ness gestured to the details of the room. He gracefully stepped off from his chair and started to push everyone out into the tight hallway again.

Bowser Jr. growled but without further ado, he shoved through the hallway full of kids and started to walk back to another room. As everyone tried to turn around without stumbling over each other, Lucina felt a hand brush against her leg.

"Oops, how rude of me. Sorry, swordsman." Ness smiled.

Appalled by the boy's casualness, Lucina knitted her mouth shut.

"I do have a more formal apology for you later. After the conference." He added. The smirk was replaced by a stern look in his beady irises.

Something about his disposition felt similar to Lucas. Lucina dismissed it as them both wearing striped shirts and denim shorts. After all, they were almost polar opposites in personality.

* * *

It wasn't until they were all seated that Lucina noticed they were sitting in the kitchen of the hideout. It was well tended for a hideout full of kids without adult care. A sweet sugary scent wafted around the room and while Lucina couldn't identify the source, it set her mind at ease compared to the previous room.

Robin sat to her left, and to her right, the pink child hopped into the seat as if they couldn't wait to sit next to her. More kids filed in, talking amongst themselves, grabbing chairs and squeezing in between to fit the round table.

"Well, we're not all here but that's okay, I guess." Bowser Jr. muttered.

Before he took the last seat, he reached over the kitchen counter to a small metal tray full of knick knacks. Fortunately, the item he was looking for was on top wrapped in a small plastic bag. He handed it to Lucina timidly as if he was afraid she'll bite. Before she took it, Lucina assessed the see-through bag: her hair pins and a shiny copper-colored key to what she assumed was a spare key to the hideout.

"I didn't agree to help you." She answered.

Bowser Jr. groaned. "At least take your pins. No one here has hair long enough to need them and I hate throwing stuff away."

Without a moment to talk back, an arm stretched over Lucina and took the bag. Robin set it on the table in front of him. "We'll take the hair pins and we can discuss about the key now. Is that okay?" He said with a courteous smile.

Lucina gave him a look but Bowser Jr. seemed content. He climbed into his seat and laced his scaled fingers together. As he cleared his throat, most of the kids leaned in closer to the table.

"Robin, right? And Lucius." He started. "First of all, I'm sorry for harming both of you. I assumed some things about you two and I wasn't right.

Lucina nodded, albeit a bit surprised at how formal Bowser Jr. was now.

"Lucas told me that you guys wanted to know more about the Family as well. My question is, is that for the sake of the Royal Battalion, or is it personal?" Bowser Jr. stared into Lucina's eyes so intently, she could see his eyelids twitch from across the table.

The room fell silent. Lucina felt exposed under a white light. She almost forgot what she said to Bowser Jr. when she escaped from the hideout, but his desperate state reminded her that he still thinks the note from the prince is at the Royal Battalion station.

It was strange, her first instinct was to trust Bowser Jr. and tell him the truth. Rather than protecting her reputation and position that she had worked years for, and instead trust her kidnapper. She couldn't fully dismiss her reasoning just because the Guerrillas were a gang of kids, since Robin trusts one of them. And after how shifty her commander acted after she was almost killed, added more to her reasoning. But she had to mentally stop herself from disclosing all of her information.

"It's personal. As I told you, from the riot at the bakery." Lucina answered. "Robin and I saw a boy eating those poisoned rolls and then the riot happened that very night. It felt too timely for bad karma to get that baker."

Bowser Jr.'s tense shoulders dropped considerably. Several kids leaned over the round table and began whispering excitedly to him. The leader nodded, almost smiling to his teammates.

"Uh, what's wrong?" Robin asked.

As if to answer him, another boy walked into the kitchen with a tight posture and fingers clutching his shirt. Patches of yellow spotted his face and extremities. He had a new red shirt on but he was definitely a familiar face.

"I... um, hello." The poisoned boy stuttered.

Bowser Jr. explained. "We call him Villager since he can't remember his name, and he chose the name 'Villager'. He could have been called anything... Like Dragon or Fire-breather."

Lucina was glued to her seat but Robin went to kneel in front of the boy. The poisoned boy, Villager, stepped back a half step and rubbed his arms.

"I'm glad you're okay." Robin couldn't finish his sentence without his voice cracking.

"Thank you for helping me." Villager muttered. His expression was sincere but his words sounded like he was reading aloud from a book.

"Oh, that's so sweet. I... I really didn't do anything."

Small arms wrapped around Robin's back. As Villager's fingers curled into the fabric of the coat, Lucina watched her friend's shoulders relax and return the hug. Thinking back on when she pulled Robin's collar to distance them from Villager when they first met felt so distant now. It's been weeks since she has last thought about the boy who started everything. After the incident at the station, the part of her that was curious about the elusive prince and the Family was gone. And she was afraid to be curious again.

Villager ushered Robin back to his seat in a gentle manner. He stood in front of Lucina now; everyone hushed around him. She had a good idea of what the child was going to ask her, and while she wanted nothing more than to plug her ears, it was an inevitable topic.

"Did Roy hurt you?" He asked.

Just hearing the name had black spots dance in her eyesight. Lucina tried responding and nothing came out. But the expression on her face was apparently enough for Villager to understand.

"I heard him talk to Captain and he sounded so angry. He said he was going to hurt you." He explained.

"He did." Lucina muttered, breathless. "He… almost killed me."

Villager continued, taking in a breath with each sentence. "I was scared. I wanted to help you so I ran away. Bowser Jr. found me. He said I might be able to help you."

An uneasy silence weighed the room down. Bowser Jr. was listening patiently but the rest had their heads heavy and staring at the table. Lucina wanted to too, but her eyes were locked with Villager's, now waiting for her response.

She understood exactly why. She didn't help the boy. Plus Villager says he escaped from the orphanage but who's to say he wasn't followed or was even told to be found by the Guerillas? If he was a skilled enough boy to join them, could he also be working for the Family as well?

"Boy or girl?" Another voice cut through the room.

"Mega Man, you can't ask a person if they're a boy or girl." Ness intervened. "It's more complicated than that. Are _you_ a boy or girl?"

"I think I'm boy?" The child with a blue helmet tilted his head.

"Will you two shut your trap!" Bowser Jr. snapped, slamming his fist down on the table. But once he saw Villager flinch, he sat in his seat again. "Sorry, Villager."

"You apologize to Villager for yelling and don't apologize to Mega Man and me for actually yelling at us?" Ness scoffed.

Bowser Jr. ignored him. He turned to Lucina. "So, what do you think?"

"What...?" She winced.

"You said yourself, that you wish you could help me. Can we work together?" He enunciated.

Her instincts pointed to 'yes'. Unlike the orphanage and the caretakers, who actually did end up turning against her, she could see herself trusting the gang of kids.

On the other hand, she was still clutching onto her sword. Though it made her more anxious, it gave her a sense of balance, like she was grabbing on the handrails from atop of an unfamiliar flight of stairs.

"I'm not saying you need to trust me with your life." Bowser Jr. continued. "You're not going to and I'm not either. You can be friends with Lucas and Villager all you want but you can think of me as a resource."

Lucina found the room to smile a bit. "That's very humble of you."

The scaled boy's cheeks flushed. He bit his lips as if he was afraid Lucina would tease him more, but she had no desire to.

"I'll let you know by the time my foot gets better."

Villager looked at Lucina's feet. There wasn't much talk about the incident at the station other than the glass wall shattering down. Most common-people blamed the noise for the poor integrity of the Citadel but the Guerrillas proved their expertise over regular people. Lucina wouldn't be surprised if they knew what happened at the station already.

"...Fine." Bowser Jr. grumbled. "But at least take a transceiver. I don't want to waste time tracking you down again. If you have one, I can give you our frequency."

* * *

Lucina stared at the numbers and letters scribbled across the piece of paper. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the paper was part of a flyer for an auction in the Core, the area underneath the Midst.

Robin was with Bowser Jr. asking a shower of questions and concerns. The scaled boy was promptly answering his questions while swatting away the pink child, Kirby, as they introduced after the meeting, who was tapping on the leader with a fork in hand.

"So," Ness took the seat in front of Lucina. "Are you ready to accept my sincere apology?"

The sudden presence of the boy and his odd question took her aback.

He continued. "I promised Lucas I'd apologize with him but I couldn't wait. If that's okay with you."

"I don't mind." Lucina said, looking away.

Ness cleared his throat. The way he adjusted his cap also felt too cheesy and already Lucina was questioning the sincerity of his apology, but she stayed silent.

"I told you that your friend didn't make it back to the shop to shake you loose. And you kicked me right out of my seat. Boy, I was lucky you didn't have your sword on hand then." He laughed, but then cleared his throat again when Lucina didn't join him.

"But it reminded me I had a family who loved me, well, I've only talked to my father over the phone but I could tell he cared for me. And while Lucas is like a brother to me, I don't know if I'd react the same way you did if something were to happen to him."

Lucina turned to the boy. He was staring at his fingers, catching his words or waiting for her reply, she didn't know.

"I don't know where I'm going with this. I'm sorry, I guess."

It was hard to tell if Ness was being serious or not. He wasn't hostile now, but he's also not hotheaded like Bowser Jr. so it was difficult to see his true intentions. In any case, the clock on the wall told it was late afternoon. She told her father she'd be home for lunch.

"Robin." She called.

Her friend also took a look at the clock and nodded. She didn't need it but he helped her stand up and walk to the door.

"Oh," Robin stopped, "Can I ask one more question?"

Lucina blinked, then looked back at Bowser Jr., who shook his head no, and Ness, who nodded with a smirk. She nodded.

Bowser Jr. scowled at her for a second before listening to Robin's 'one more' question.

"I'll be waiting outside."

* * *

Steam and bustling noise welcomed Lucina back outside. She leaned on the fenced wall that looks over the water plant below. Clouds of steam billowed, then disappearing as it climbed to the top of the establishment. Leaving only the humidity to smother over the streets.

She had hoped Lucas would come back to join in but the meeting wasn't as intimidating as she expected. Still, her mindset was nowhere near clear enough to make any commitments yet. Though they did 'apologize', the Guerrillas meant malicious intent when they saw her and Robin at that riot at the bakery.

"I can't trust anyone yet." She shut her eyes and muttered to herself. "Just Robin and his co-workers."

Warm dew built up on her skin. It was nearly impossible to think of anything else other than the humidity so Lucina shoved her thoughts to the side and wiped her nose. It must be worse down in the Core and the Drain, if there were any sane people living there.

And yet, she felt it. From behind. Something cold. At first what felt like a sheet of metal brushing against her were human fingertips.

Lucina jumped away from the touch, but ended up knocking into something. Layers of dark cloth cushioned the impact. A slender but strong arm enveloped her and it was too late to realize that the person had caught her off guard by touching her from the opposite side and redirecting her attention.

Something about the cotton in the cloth was comforting. It was a familiar smell or warmth, but Lucina didn't stay still to find out why. She got the Falchion out halfway out of its sheath before the man's other hand grasped her wrist from behind.

The other hand, his right hand, was made of off-white bones. Despite the lack of muscles and skin the hand was articulate and somehow a lot stronger than his left. Every bone and cartilage buried into the fabric of the sleeve. While Lucina was stunned by the odd prosthetic, the Falchion snapped back into its sheath. But the hand still clenched around her wrist firmly.

"Oh, sweet thing, look at what you did to yourself." A voice that could only be described as velvet-like tickled the insides of her ears.

Robin's muffled voice leaked behind the door. As she was about to call out to him, the man gently tapped his toe on her injured foot. The smothering pain shriveled her throat dry. There was an intentional feel on how he touched only her injured foot; especially when the man snickered as she flinched.

Lucina looked up to at least catch a glimpse of her assailant's face, but his facial features were masked from a heavy hood and the perpetual steam.

"A kind boy, isn't he?" The man continued. "I'm glad he's looking out for you. There are many bad people in the Citadel."

She gulped. "Who are you?"

"I'm anyone you want me to be."

After hearing that, as strange as it sounded, Lucina felt obedient to the situation she was held in. It was not relaxing to say the least but the man's disposition lead on that no measure of resisting him wasn't going to work. He appeared young, but knowledgeable. The hood over his face added to his nebulous image but there was also an ancient nature to him. He didn't even seem quite human as well.

"Just know that I'm one of your many admirers and hope that you stay alive. I'll do everything in my power to not let anyone hurt you, and to not let you become a murderer."

Lucina stared. She noted, the man's wide smile was uneven on one side.

As if Lucina was a baby, the man emphasized the four words slowly: "You didn't kill him."

He then let go of her wrist, reached inside his cloak and revealed a new, unopened tube of some medicine in cream form.

"For your foot. It doesn't work on me anymore."

A puff of steam gently wafted the man's hood. For a second, it revealed the maroon burn that spread across his face. One milky white eye and one hazy blue eye.

It was him.

* * *

Author's Note: Poor excuse but I've been busy, and I've noticed writing a bummer story puts me in a bummer mood. But I'm terrible at happy funny stories. Not as bad as my procrastination on my other long story though... I love that story too. Anyway, Rodin and Robin have too much in common regarding their names and I regret it already. Also thank you so much for the reviews, favorites, and follows so far. Things will take a different direction in the next chapter!


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